When it comes to the digital revolution, the travel industry has been taken by its waves too. Based on the changing needs and behaviours of the travellers, the concept of mobile app development for this industry has gained much response over the years. For the prospective travellers, travel apps offer a complete package of deals which can let them easily plan their trips without any kind of troubles.
Top features to have in a travel app
Today more number of businesses in the travel industry is investing in travel app development, keeping its profits in mind. If you are planning to develop a travel app for your business, then you should definitely include a number of features in your app to reach the desired output.
The following is the list of features which you should include in your travel app for sure:
Automatic travel itinerary planner
It has been seen that many people go ahead and love to plan their trips around the world in their own way. They prefer to choose their trip independently rather than opting for the readymade ones available out there at the travel agencies. Keeping this trend in mind, the travel agencies are now going ahead and including an automatic itinerary planner within their travel app. So using this feature, the user can simply choose the location and the itinerary planner will plan a desired trip for a preferred number of days, which includes various locations for sightseeing. So without much stress, the traveller will have the complete trip planned based on their preference.
Online booking using mobile app
Today people prefer online booking option for most of the services. There is no meaning in having a mobile app for your travel agency if that does not support the users in making an online booking for hotels and flight. The purpose of a travel app is to help travellers with everything that they will need to plan out their trip. This includes assisting the users with built-in functionality to help make online reservations for flight and hotels instead of redirecting them to another online booking app.
Payment integration
Travel apps are all about finding the best hotels and flights for the users and so there is a need to include a secured payment gateway in the app to make things easier for them. By using such an application, users can easily find the rooms, get the best deals for the same and make payments quickly.
Geolocation tracking services
When a traveller reaches a destination, the first thing that they want to look for is restaurant, restrooms, hotels or local attractions. By having GPS based location tracking service available on the app, the users will be able to easily track down their current locations and look for places that they want to go for without wasting any time.
Navigation and maps
When you are up to travel app development, navigation and maps play a very integral role. Using this feature, the users can easily spot the place and explore it. Including offline maps and navigation can also do well to the users as they don’t have to go, find and download any kind of third-party application.
Rating, reviews, and recommendations
Reviews and ratings play a crucial role for travellers. The reviews and ratings that the past travellers have given for places, hotels and other experiences can help a new traveller planning to visit the place. Again, such reviews and recommendations will have tips which can help the first time visitors. The travel app should include all the reviews and ratings that the users give on the app.
Customer service
The travel apps should consider the customers first and so should have an option for a direct chat with the users. If the travel agency is not well-equipped with enough people to talk with the customers, then the best way to achieve this is by having AI-based chatbots. Unlike human agents, such chatbots will be available 24*7 to help the users. Once the users find that they can have the service of the customer support team available round the clock, they will feel more connected with the brand. This will increase their chances of making future bookings with the same travel agency.
Social media sharing
The number of social media users has been increasing steadily over the years. This means the power of social media is quite big. The trend of using social media to share travel experience has increased over the years and it has been seen that more than 70% of the social media users share photos or even update the status on Facebook when they are travelling. People tag the hotels, restaurants, and attractions while they are on the go and this way they naturally become the brand ambassador of the travel agency.
With a feature included in the app where the users can easily share their photos or videos related to the trip on social media, it can prove to be useful for the social media users and the travel agency equally. This way, travellers can easily stay connected with their friends and families over sites like Facebook easily.
Deals and offers
One of the tried and tested means of increasing conversions in any business is through offers and discount codes. When you offer great deals to your customers, as a business, you increase the chances of conversion rates as well as it lets you retain your customer base. Again, you can even consider letting your users create an account on the travel app using social media accounts, which will allow them to save the deals on their profiles.
In-app cab booking facility
Majority of the travel apps let the travellers book hotel rooms, flight and train tickets just within a few clicks. You can boost the user experience of your app by adding in-app cab booking facility. This way, the users can now book the cab just within a few clicks while planning their trip.
Language translator and in-built currency convertor
Language translator is one of the most important features to have in your travel app. All the travel apps do not include such a feature in the market but, such a feature will let the traveller know about the local language before making a visit. Two of the apps which are used for translating the text and voice data are iTranslate and Google Translate. You can think about having such apps introduced in your application to help the users understand the local language.
The integration of currency convertor can help users when they are having international trips. They can easily use the feature to accurate the cost of the item before paying while shopping. This will help them to decide whether the item is within their budget or not.
Weather forecasting
Many users prefer to check the climate of the place they are visiting before getting on with the journey. So instead of moving the customers to another app just to check the climate, you can go ahead and integrate climate forecasting feature in your app which will offer real-time alerts to the user regarding the upcoming weather conditions. This way, before planning the itinerary, the users can check for cloud formation, humidity, wind speed, etc. so as to pack accordingly.
Benefits of mobile app for your travel and tourism business
Offer customized services tailor-made for traveller’s needs
Today the use of mobile phones has increased very much in the travel business. So businesses are making use of this opportunity to attract and engage customers. They are using mobile phones as a platform to quickly reach customers and offer what they want in a more personalized manner. They offer hotels, flights, restaurants, etc. in the most customized manner based on customer preferences.
Offers unmatched experience to the users
When done right, mobile apps can work as a strong bridge connecting the travellers with the travel service providing companies. Today, users make use of mobile phones to search for destinations, flights, attractions, planning the trip, booking, and everything. It takes off all the hassle in planning a trip.
Works as the right platform between travel service providers and travellers
You can take out all the stress out of your trip through proper planning. This is where the mobile app comes in. They let the customers have a hassle-free journey by taking up all the job of planning. By using the travel app, the users can get all the related tasks done from a single place. So whether it is about booking a hotel room or a flight, renting a car or finding a restaurant, know about the local places or local events, such an app can help you with everything and anything.
Offer regular deals and exciting offers for mobile app users
Mobile apps for travel business work as a perfect gift for wanderlusts. By using such apps, travellers can easily find new destinations at great deals and offers. Based on the frequency of the trips and likes for places, the travel agency can offer exclusive deals to the users to attract more customers.
Track and analyze the customers
Every other business in the market wants to know what their customers want and why and how they behave with the brand. By taking a look at the customer data and getting insights on their behaviour, the business can know what they need to change and where they are doing well. More than just monitoring the behaviour of the users on the app, it is more about letting the people do what they want within the app seamlessly.
How much does it cost to develop a travel app?
Cost of travel app development is depended on a number of factors. The different factors affecting the cost of travel app development are as below:
- Features and their level of complexity
- App platform
- Different authorization methods
- Integration of mobile app
- Real-time synchronization
Wrapping it up
Building a travel app for your business is the best decision you can make for the growth of your travel agency. Having the right travel app with the right features can easily help you attract new users towards your app, all the while retaining the existing customers. You can easily achieve this by hiring the right mobile app development partner with rights skills and expertise.
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