In the hospitality industry, the majority of users interact with businesses using platforms like MakeMyTrip, Airbnb, etc. While having a significant presence on these websites is very much required, if you don’t have a hotel booking app, people won’t remember your hotel after a while. In short, if you go for hotel app development, there will be a bigger scope for your business to stay in touch with your customers. Specifically, after COVID, as the travel industry is on the boom, it is imperative now to have a business app of your own.
Let’s have a look at the market trends.
According to Statista, the global market for the travel and tourism industry is expected to generate $852 billion in revenue in 2023. The number of users in the online travel booking market will reach 823.6 million by the end of 2023. In turn, 72% of worldwide sales in tourism and travel will be made online by 2025.
The figures above show that it’s the perfect time for hotel owners to explore digital opportunities. As there will be more and more travelers relying on mobile apps to book their rooms and other travel-related services.
So, if you are an entrepreneur of a travel-tourism startup company or a hotel chain owner this blog is for you. As we are going to cover various types of hotel booking apps, their cost, essential features, etc. But before we dive deeper let’s focus on the key consideration parameters.
Types of Hotel Booking Apps
Most hotel apps are related to booking rooms or making reservations. The first thing while building your hotel booking app is to choose its type. There are usually 3 types of hotel app
1. Hotel Consolidator App
Apps like these collect hotel information and make it accessible to users. Examples include Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, etc.
2. Mobile Apps for Hotel Chains
An app like this focuses on a specific chain of hotels and only allows bookings within that chain. Marriott Gold and Hilton Honors are two examples.
3. Online Travel Agencies
You can book multiple things with these apps, such as flight tickets, rental cars, hotels, tours, visas, and more. MakeMyTrip, Expedia, Ctrip, and On The Beach are some of the leading online travel agencies.
Hotel App Development: Key Considerations
1. Selecting an App Distribution Area
Prior to developing a hotel booking application, this is another crucial phase to consider. Make sure you choose the right distribution area for your app. You can always target the international market instead of the local market. Nevertheless, scaling up a business requires time and investment.
2. Identify your Unique Value Proposition
In the business world, the term ‘Unique Value Proposition’ refers to the features that make your business unique from others. To determine what unique value your business will offer to your customers, you must figure out what your value proposition is.
Some of the UVPs you can look into are:
- End-moment booking deal
- Affordable booking option
- Free stays
- Short stays
- VR Room View
3. Sourcing Out Hotel Data
For building a hotel booking app, Data gathering is very important. When it comes to holidays or some special world cup tournament, the more details you have of your end audience the better strategy you can plan for your app offers.
You can access hotel listings through a number of APIs from the list below.
- HotelsCombined
- Google Maps Platform
- Zodomus
- EPS Rapid
It is important to note that all of these APIs offer access to databases according to their own conditions.
4. Admin Panel
A smooth management of mobile and web applications is essential. Any hotel booking app has an admin panel, from chain hotel applications to aggregators and OTAs. A well-designed, custom solution tailored to the platform’s peculiarities and needs is essential to managing listings and keeping track of important data. Building a successful hotel booking application requires not only considering user-facing costs, but also infrastructure costs, such as the admin panel and other related solutions.
In order to get a better understanding of how to prepare for a market-fit mobile you can check out this guide to get started with a mobile app idea.
Hotel App Development: MVP Features
MVP is known as the minimum viable product. It holds the core functionality of your product and enables you to test your mobile app idea in the market.
Here are some key features to be included in your MVP
1. Sign Up
Your application is driven by the users. Therefore, you should consider adding new user registration to your empire. There are generally two types of registration functionality. Guest mode and new user registration.
2. Accommodation Booking Screen
Hotel booking applications are all about the booking screen. Your app’s ‘comfort level’ encompasses the whole package. Booking any accommodation should be as easy, simple, and convenient as possible with an interactive user interface. Be careful not to overcrowd the booking screen. User experience is enhanced by the clean look and the smart use of white space. Data input fields are limited to those that are appropriate.
3. In-App Search Option
A well-framed in-app search engine is the key element of a suitable UI. Make sure it is well-engineered because your app strongly relies on this feature.
4. Filters
Filters are the most important aspects of any application’s search capabilities. The search is made more versatile by the use of several filters.
5. In-App Payment Option
For individuals looking for a variety of payment gateways, mobile devices have sped up and simplified the payment procedure. Ensure that your hotel reservation app is linked to a reputable payment gateway. Instant payments will be available, and customer credit or debit card information will be kept private. Face id or touch id would make subsequent bookings simple and secure because payment information would be submitted only once and saved in the app. Customers should also have no issue redeeming their rewards, coupons, incentives, and special offers.
6. Policy on Cancellation
During bookings, customers are protected by the cancellation policy. They will be able to cancel their reservations in the event of an emergency. People may dislike your hotel booking app if it lacks a cancellation policy because they may perceive it as limiting. Your cancellation policy should be adaptable. You should also mention a refund policy in case of cancellations.
7. Push Notifications
Customers return to your application after receiving a push notification. They should be convincing, engaging, and persuasive. Determine the best moment to send push notifications in order to re-engage your consumers. You can decide your push notifications on the following criteria:
- Update on the weather
- Check-in/check-out notifications
- Special offers
- Interesting attractions and activities, nearby
These many features can create chaos and hassle in your mind. You can simply avoid this by going with an MVP development company initially.
Hotel App Development: Best Features to Consider
1. Automatic language recognition
If you have a worldwide audience, your hotel booking app should include an automatic language identification system. It facilitates a more personalized experience for the customer. A pop-up message will appear if a user logs into your app from Spain.
2. Currency Conversion
It is also useful to have currency exchange capabilities. It reduces half the load tourists have when traveling abroad.
3. Smart Travel Assistant / Chatbot
By providing 24/7 support, virtual travel agents will improve travelers’ experiences
by Identifying the most common concerns and navigating them. There are a variety of services offered by chatbots, including hotel searches, bookings, and trip management.
4. 360 View
Providing a cluster of images can sometimes confuse the user. In order to make give them a clear vision of the place, 360 image view attracts users to solve the purpose of manifesting the right vibe of the place.
Confused about selecting some of the top features for your hotel app? This guide on popular features in the mobile app can help you select some of the best features.
Hotel Booking App Development Cost
It is very hard to determine how much your app idea for mobile devices will cost exactly. However, depending on the size, complexity, technology stack, development method, team structure type, etc.
The cost of the hotel booking app development also depends on the agency you are associated with and what their hourly rates are. The below table will help you understand what are the hourly rates in different regions.
| Region | Outsourcing Rates |
| India | $25 – 40 per hour |
| United States & Canada | $50-150 per hour |
| Eastern Europe | $50-70 per hour |
| UK | $50-120 per hour |
| Australia | $50-130 per hour |
Want to get an idea of the hotel booking app development budget? This guide on app development cost in Singapore will help you get the estimated cost.
How to Monetize a Hotel Booking App?
Let us get straight to the point – how to make money from the app? A lot of effort has gone into conceptualizing, strategizing, and creating the app. It makes complete sense to earn from it. Let us dig into the monetization strategy.
1. Subscription: Your subscribers will benefit from extra features, better deals, and discounts if you offer subscriptions.
2. Marketplace: If hotels want to be listed on your app, you can charge them fees.
3. Service Fees: Bookings made through the app may be subject to a service fee. Service fees are charged by most travel sites, such as Airbnb, Tripadvisor, and Booking.com.
4. Advertising: The most common method is this one. Hotels can advertise on your app to rank highly in search results by paying for placement.
Conclusion
Building a mobile app idea is a very time-consuming process. It demands patience, tons of investments, and various operations expenses. In order to make it successful you need to be very careful while partnering with your hotel booking app development company.
Our mobile app development team singapore company provides 360 mobile app development services. Have a look at our mobile app portfolio, and understand how we co-create ideas that help businesses grow.
