How to develop a hotel booking app ?
The common interest of the majority of people worldwide is taking a break from the monotonous work life and repeated modes of living. The desire for corporate travel, a transition to an experienced economy, and strong economic indications in most nations are driving the rapid growth of the travel and hospitality industries. Additionally, internet booking has become more popular among consumers. 88% of people in the US prefer to make a reservation through an internet source.
Utilizing a smartphone app to make a hotel reservation is now simple, quick, and pleasurable. And creating a hotel booking app was never easier or more profitable.
In 2022, it is predicted that the global market for online hotel reservations would reach more than $174 million.
Advantages Of a Hotel Booking App
Advantages for hoteliers
- One of the key benefits of hotel booking apps is the capability to frequently locate customers. Even though they are typically only open at the busiest seasons of the year, smaller hotels can nonetheless draw travellers all year round.
- A hotel booking app establishes automated cost estimates for lodging and additional room service, greatly minimising the possibility of errors.
- A hotel booking application lets hotel owners discover new markets, gain customers, connect users, and market their hotel brand by ensuring a great user experience. Customers will find the verification and check-out processes easier as a result, which increases their likelihood of returning to your hotel and recommending it to others.
Advantages for users
- Users of a hotel reservation app may discover all the obtainable hotels under one ceiling.
- Users may choose the ideal hotel with ease based on criteria such as location, cost, amenities, and verification and check-out times.
- Utilizing hotel details and room photographs, users of hotel reservation applications can assess hotels.
- Users of a hotel reservation app may have a range of payment options, including cash payments at check-in, card payments, credit cards, bank transfers, in-app payments, and internet banking.
What is the cost estimate of a hotel booking app?
The entire cost of creating an app, such as a hotel booking mobile app for iOS and Android, depends on a number of variables, including its size and degree of complexity. In addition, the location of the mobile app developers and the total number of hours spent developing the app are important factors in determining the final amount of money that must be invested in the app. We have compiled the fees requested by various developers around the world.
- Developers in the US: $100 to $250 per hour.
- Developers stationed in Eastern Europe: $80-$180 per hour.
- Developers in India: $25 to $50 per hour.
It will cost you between $25,000 and $35,000 to design a fully featured hotel booking app for a single platform, and you will have to invest much more if you want the app to be compatible with other platforms.
Types of Hotel Booking App
Some generic types of hotel booking apps are as follows:
Aggregators of hotels
These applications merely compile a list of all hotels and provide it to the users. TripAdvisor, hotels.com, booking.com, and others are a few of the best hotel aggregators.
Travel booking websites
These apps give users the option to reserve a variety of services, including hotels, rental cars, flights, sightseeing excursions, and visas. MakeMyTrip, Expedia, Ctrip, On The Beach, and others are a few of the top online travel agencies.
Apps for hotel chains
These applications offer a certain hotel chain and let you book rooms inside it. Oyo, Hilton Honors, Marriott, and other popular hotel chain applications are just a few.
Therefore, the above mentioned are the basic types of hotel booking app.
Process to Create a Hotel Booking App
Now that we have a thorough understanding of the entire development process for a bespoke hotel booking app.
Collecting project information
The project's specifics would be gathered and organised first. To create a development plan with precise guidelines, collect the technological needs. Every screen's wireframe is created using UI/UX.
Designing UI/UX
The UI/UX design team builds a prototype for each screen based on the specs and development vision based on the wireframes.
Construction procedure
At this point, the prototype screen is transformed into a functioning app in accordance with the criteria. Every development cycle at Appinventiv is broken down into sprints that encompass coding, testing, and deployment phases.
Quality control
It is now necessary to test the created item. The QA engineer is in charge of this. The development team receives the issue report to be fixed after it is generated based on the test.
Product launch
Bugs are fixed and finishing touches are applied before finished items are issued. The app is prepared to enter the market. Following the launch, the team incorporates customer feedback to improve the product.
App assistance
Updating and maintaining the final product on a regular basis is a routine process.
Although the steps stated above look easy they are tedious and time-consuming. To create a successful custom hotel booking development application, it is crucial that the specialised resources participate and work together.
Features of a Hotel Booking App
A hotel booking app's functionality is based on its features. Therefore, it is crucial to have all of these while developing a hotel booking app.
Search Parameters
The app will focus the user's attention on a specific set of criteria when they begin looking for lodging, including the city or location they are visiting, the dates they will be staying and departing, any additional guests, whether they are travelling with pets, and the number of rooms they will need.
Reservation and Cancellation
Once the consumer has selected the hotel he wants to stay at, he is then taken to a secure payment gateway such as Debit/Credit Card, Braintree, or Stripe. When a consumer cancels a hotel reservation, the majority of these businesses offer a full refund within the first 24 hours. The ability to cancel reservations is really helpful for customers, but it also presents a number of challenges for hotel owners because the majority of cancellations are made just a day or two before the users' arrival date.
An overall view of the facility
You may build a strong rapport with the users by giving them a full view of the lodging, as this is what they want. An overview, room status, gallery, maps, social media buttons, pool view, suggestions, and other views ought to be offered by the app.
Client Account
The customer account contains user data such as a wish list, booking history, currency, and preferred language. Depending on the information owners acquired from their profile, users receive discounts and tailored offers.
Hotel Account
The hotel account provides access to all necessary information about hotels, including rates and offers linked to information, discounts, best offers, and available rooms.
Payment Methods
The users will be prompted to make in-app payments using a variety of choices, including Debit & Credit cards, Stripe, PayPal, and Braintree, once they have chosen the lodging that best suits them.
Therefore, these are some important features for developing a hotel booking shop.
Conclusion
A revitalising and unique experience is travelling. In addition to other travelling criteria like destination, method of transportation, Visa, etc., a well-functioning hotel booking application is equally responsible for making this experience even more memorable. You can rule this market if you can provide an incredible booking experience.
In conclusion, we can say that you should first determine your hotel booking models, UVPs, and target market before designing a hotel booking application.
