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The travel industry is eagerly waiting for the opportunity to return to its roots after the 2020 pandemic. The economy of the world is in turmoil, and there are numerous restrictions on travel, making it difficult for hotel owners to operate and manage their reservations business.
Emerging technologies have greatly altered the way people book their travels and explore things around the world thanks to their impact on travel.
Booking apps have gained immense popularity as the mobile app development industry booms. Hotel reservation apps can help you decide on the most suitable hotel accommodation at the best price in a prime location as well as check the availability of rooms.
There are no longer those days when people crave talking to travel agents over the phone. A typical journey has shifted from the desktop to mobile, so if you think you can conquer the world just by making your travel website responsive, then you're mistaken.
In addition to having a website, people prefer to book their vacations on their smartphones to make your brand look more trustworthy.
With a well-developed hotel booking app, you can do everything from plan trips, find the best places to visit depending on your interests, book tickets to make hotel reservations. With the incorporation of AI, ML, AR, VR, and more into hotel booking apps, travelers can easily get the best prices on trip packages, exploring for the best travel experience.
Considering the increasing need for reservation websites and applications for hotels, many startups, entrepreneurs, and businesses within the hospitality industry are wondering whether or not it is profitable to invest in hotel booking apps in 2021 and how much money does it take to build a successful trip or hotel booking website. If you are also facing a similar dilemma, continue reading.
In the travel and hospitality industry, customers are increasingly booking online to save time and money. 88% of residents in the USA prefer to book a hotel through a digital channel. An app makes booking your stay simple, quick, and enjoyable. In our day and age, hotel booking apps are more affordable and rewarding than ever. By 2022, it is estimated that over $174 million will be spent online for hotel bookings.
Online travel companies operate 45% of their business through mobile apps instead of websites.
Approximately 80% of last-minute reservations are made using a mobile application.
Contactless reservations and payments are making hotel reservation applications more popular these days. People tend to make plans and go on vacations when the world is adapting to the new normal and travel restrictions are easing.
A mobile app makes booking a stay quick, easy, and enjoyable. Hotel booking apps don't cost much to develop.
The cost is quite reasonable and the rewards are plentiful these days.
Even though hotel reservation is the core function of the hotel booking mobile app, it is just one aspect of it. Hotel booking apps provide their users with the capability to book restaurants, taxis, flights, package holidays, and cruises; they can discover new and refreshing vacation spots, read reviews given by other travelers, their stories, and so on.
Imagining your hotel app as a travel app would not be wrong. If you would like to develop an online hotel booking app, you do not need to worry about how to proceed as we are going to walk you through the essentials of hotel booking app development.
Global online travel sales between 2014 and 2020 are shown on this timeline. The total value of global online travel sales for 2016 was 564.87 billion dollars. In 2019, it is estimated to reach 755.94 billion U.S. dollars.
There is no doubt that the hospitality industry is strong and expansive. We look forward to helping you connect with your audience and making planning a vacation a positive experience for them.
Are you considering monetizing these solutions? You can easily do so. Hotel booking apps are a great way to earn better profits and grow as your business grows.
An online hotel booking system is based on many business models. We can offer you a variety of hotel booking app development models that include Merchant Model, Aggregator Model, Advertising Model, and Dedicated Model to choose from when you come to our hotel booking app development company.
Let's explore each of them:
Merchant Model
Well, in this case, the hotel mobile app owner enters into a contract with the hotel to obtain rights to a certain number of rooms at a discount since the hotel uses wholesale rates. Their app users later can book these rooms with an average margin of 10-40%. Now the prices of hotel rooms and hotels can be very flexible, and they may change based on demand. Expedia, which controls a large portion of the digital travel business, which is 17%, and offers a breadth of options in more than 200 countries, is one of the best examples of this type of app. Expedia can only use the merchant model with massive capital gains.
Aggregator Model
Due to its simple logic, this type of app is most commonly used for hotel bookings. These kinds of apps are connected with several online booking services, therefore when a user searches for a hotel, a unified list of hotels is displayed to him along with various price options from various reservation platforms. He is then redirected to the website of the corresponding booking platform once he's selected the appropriate accommodation. Hotel Look is a good example of this type of platform.
Advertising Model:
The third type of app lets you make money by offering hotel booking services. Each time a user is redirected to a hotel's website, owners receive a specific amount. In addition to being the least profitable model, it also requires no investment or risk. Take Trip advisor, for instance. Cost-per-click advertising is where it earns the most profit.
Dedicated Model
Hilton, Grand Hyatt, and Marriott are among the most well-known hotel chains that use this approach, which has apps uniting their hotel and resort brands. In the meantime, you will want to have a separate app for your chain or hotel if it is famous and big enough. In addition to booking, these apps can be used to request things from the hotel during a stay, such as extra pillows or an ironing board.
With a market this expansive, making some good money and sharing innovative ideas that are aligned with your business goals becomes a lot easier.
Revenue generated by online travel bookings worldwide in selected countries in 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Hotel booking apps: reasons why your business needs them in 2022?
In 2021, businesses may wonder how a hotel booking app can help them grow their businesses since it is a complex task. The truth is that hotel booking apps have multiple benefits for customers, hotel owners, and business owners.
For Business Owners: Owning your application could provide your business with a multitude of benefits that include increased user engagement, a broader customer base, multiple revenue streams, streamlined payments, and reduced customer support costs. Among others.
For Customers: Booking your stay with a hotel booking app will be much more convenient and comfortable since it will provide benefits such as deals, offers, discounts, easy property search options, reliability, property ratings and reviews, and many more. Mobile app developers can provide startups and new brands with custom solutions that offer a lot of value for the money. In addition to allowing you to book your entire trip with just a few clicks on the app, you will also be able to move through the booking process more quickly.
For Hotel: A hotel can get direct bookings by using an app that sells at a higher or lower price based on the number of reservations or the number of days booked. Aside from automation, there are other benefits such as user data, direct customer outreach, brand promotion, and loyalty programs.
Are there any other reasons why investing in a hotel booking app is important in 2022?
By making it easy for travelers to search and book their hotel rooms at their choice of location in a few clicks at affordable prices, they can improve their customer experience. As a result, they greatly contribute to enhancing the experience of clients.
Using a hotel booking app will help you promote your business and increase awareness.
We can improve service quality by providing all the information through the app, from room availability and prices to discounts and location information.
With multilingual support, international customers can select the language of their choosing and gain access to your services quickly and easily.
It is hoped that these benefits provide you with an incentive to hire an app developer; however, before you do, you should decide what type of app you want, what features you need, and how much it will cost.
Hotel booking apps' features determine their success and how you will benefit from them. Therefore, it is essential to have all these while building a booking app for hotels.
Now let's look at the app's most basic and important features:
Sorting and filtering in browsing:
A user starts their search with some specific criteria such as the city, the location, the check-in and check-out dates, the number of rooms required, and other things, such as if pets are allowed. They can sort the options according to how suitable they are for their stay using the search filters.
Cancellation and booking:
The user will be securely directed to a secure payment gateway after deciding to stay and be able to make payment using a Debit/Credit card, Braintree, stripe, and other methods. Hiring a software development company will help you add this critical feature. If a reservation is canceled within the first 24 hours, many hotel reservation services offer customers a full refund. However, cancellation charges may apply after 24 hours. Ensure your app has clear cancellation and booking policies.
Service Presentation:
If you're building a hotel booking app, be sure to include features that make it easy for users to view the accommodation from all angles, including an overview, room status, gallery, maps, social media buttons, pool view, and suggestions.
Customer Account:
For instant access to user information, such as wish lists, booking histories, browsing histories preferred languages, and currency, it is stored. Businesses can send individualized offers and discounts based on the data collected from customers' profiles by implementing these features.
Hotel Account:
Businesses can access important information regarding booking prices with these features. In addition to providing information about discounts, best deals, and availability of rooms, hotels can analyze this data carefully.
Payment Channels:
Add the ability for payments to be made through multiple payment options, such as PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree.
In terms of basic functionality, the market is already populated with several applications that offer the basic functionality of hotel booking apps. Implementing smart features such as these is a good way to reach the right audience and take a step ahead.
Budgeting Costs:
The price of the hotel booking app fluctuates quite a bit, making it difficult for the user to calculate the cost of the trip. Having this feature will enable users to easily make reservations by providing them with the necessary information. As part of this feature, you need to access a dynamic algorithm that helps you provide fair deals to your customers based on the seasonal trends, offers, and discounts that make it easier to book airline tickets and hotel rooms at reasonable rates.
Recommendations tailored to your needs:
Many online hotel booking apps offer personal booking recommendations based on previous searches. A company that develops apps with all the expertise and skills is best suited to implement this feature, as they have the skills to collect data and assist the algorithm to produce positive results.
In-App Travel Guide:
Besides using chatbots and messengers, you can also include WeChat, Google Assistant, and WeChat to provide travelers with instant access. Through this feature, you will be able to provide immediate answers to any queries.
Convert currencies and languages:
Make sure you have a currency and language conversion feature built into your on-demand hotel reservation app, depending on the customer's location.
Virtual tours are available:
By providing users with 360-degree videos and high-resolution pictures, they can get an immediate sense of booking.
Push Notification:
By using this feature, you can remain in touch with your users by notifying them of new features added or any special offers, discounts, or deals.
Analytical Dashboard:
This feature is usually accessible by the admin, so admins can make informed decisions simply by looking at the hotel dashboard, customer dashboard, and bookings. Insights from real-time data allow app owners to see where their businesses are heading.
Social Login or Signup:
Usually, apps are accessed by entering a phone number or email address, but with the new feature, the app can be accessed immediately. Contact information, emails, and other essential details do not need to be manually entered.
Reward Programs:
Through referral programs and rewards, customers will be encouraged to share and use the application every time they make a hotel reservation. This can be built according to the loyalty program scheme you have through a software developer. They can convert reward points into lucrative discounts as they accumulate reward points. Boosting the approach amongst prospective customers is quite beneficial with this feature.
In-App Navigation:
Your app has been enhanced with features such as Apple Maps or Google maps that make it easy for users to locate locations.
Ratings and Reviews:
Adding these features and allowing customers to rate and review your services will be possible. By doing so, you will be able to figure out what areas need improvement.
Nearby Places:
Employing offshore developers to implement geolocation features can allow hotel guests to look out for nearby attractions, such as malls, restaurants, and tourist attractions.
Comparative Hotel Information:
Hotel booking apps always allow users to compare hotel prices and comfort levels between different hotel options.
Now that you know all these features, you might wonder how much does a company needs to spend to build a website like Booking.com. If this is also your concern, I recommend reading the following sections.
We'll take a quick look at the technologies you can use to build a hotel booking first!
In these modern times, developing a hotel booking app is not as difficult as it once was. You can easily develop an app or web that runs on multiple platforms by hiring a mobile app development company.
Here are some of the best-recommended technologies for developing mobile apps when budget and time are limited:
Now let's see how much it will cost to create an Online Hotel booking app
Have you grown tired of searching everywhere for the final cost and time of hotel booking apps? Creating a booking app is a difficult task because the total cost that goes into developing an iOS or Android app for hotel bookings depends on many factors.
App development prices depend on an array of factors, including the hourly cost of the hired vendor, features, functionalities, complexity, UI/UX design, testing, and maintenance. App development will cost more the longer it takes to code.
Business analysts, project managers, app developers, quality assurance engineers, UI/UX designers are needed to build a general MVP for a hotel booking app. Taking into account the above-mentioned basic features of the MVP, the development will take between 20000 - 30000 hours of work. Depending on the technologies chosen for the app development, it may be a little more or less.
A full-fledged hotel booking app with smart and advanced features such as those mentioned above will probably cost approximately USD 25,000+ and take between 7 and 9 months for customization. The advanced application with many modern features will take 9+ months and cost between USD 30,000 and 35,000 to build.
I think it is fair to conclude this blog by saying that hotel booking apps offer a lot of business advantages. A mobile app developer will build a progressive app in place of a website or a native app since mobile apps are easier to use than desktops and provide instant booking access. The MVP is a good starting point for startups, new brands, and travel companies, and can be scaled up as their budgets allow. It should be noted that each additional feature will add costs and time to the project.
When you wish to create a service booking application with your desired features and functionalities, but have questions about what it will cost, Contact Us or drop a message and you will receive a free, project-specific estimate from Orion Infosolutions
DC Kumawat is the CEO of Orion InfoSolutions, a leading provider of IT solutions to businesses of all sizes. He has over 14+ years of experience in the IT industry. He is a passionate advocate for the use of technology to improve business performance.