According to Statista, the total share of online hotel booking has increased from 67% in 2017 to 76% in 2023, surging the demand for online hotel booking in recent years. Additionally, innovative technologies like artificial intelligence have raised the bar.
A hotel booking application is an amazing creation. It provides economical accommodations, lavish hotel reservations, and typical check-in and check-out conveniences to travelers, rekindling the accommodating experience to make it much simpler, better, and faster than ever.
Presently travelers can choose to be informed and stay at a place that is a safe haven rather than settling for an accommodation that’s unpredictable, obscure, and below the par value. Thus, a user surfing through your hotel booking application must have a seamless navigating experience gaining all the essential information about the site, such as location, landscape, accommodation, charges and fees, and more.
What is a Hotel Booking Application or Software?
A hotel booking app connects users with hotel owners. It provides a secure way to reserve rooms and make secure payments online. Travelers have access to accommodation that’s been explored and reviewed for its landscape, charges, services, environment, neighborhood, and amenities.
What Are the Different Types of Hotel Booking Apps Model?
Broadly, the types of hotel booking apps are divided into four basic categories. Let’s understand what are the differential purposes of each type.
The Aggregator Model
As a straightforward business model, it links several online hotel booking platforms. A user is redirected to the selected booking platform. A popular example is Trivago which provides a great facility to compare various hotels’ prices.
The Merchant Model
In this model, a hotel booking app gains rights over specific rooms through an agreed contract. These rooms can be listed as rental accommodation on their application. A famous example of an app following this model is Expedia.
The Advertising Model
The advertising model generates revenue from the pay-per-click system. These applications get paid when an accommodation provider acquires a lead.
The Dedicated Model
Staying true to its name, a dedicated model allows hotel chain owners to list accommodations at desirable charges for their property.
Factors That Influence Hotel Booking App Development Cost
There are no definite rules on how much a hotel booking app will cost. The final app development cost is influenced by several factors, such as the development platform, features required, tech crew, post-development support, scale, project requirements, and complexity.
Roughly, the average range of the hotel booking project estimates from $40,000 to $90,000. However, the inclusion of advanced features can add extra dollars to the budget. Contrarily, keeping it a basic version can significantly reduce expenses.
Factors elaborated on below have an instrumental impact on the determination of a hotel booking app.
Development Platform
Development platforms, such as Android, iOS, or cross-platform vary in financial expenses. For instance, native platform apps are more cost-incurring than applications developed on hybrid platforms. Perusing a complete guide on native vs. cross-platform app development can clear the vision for businesses to decide.
Features
Innovative features are an instrumental factor that impacts the cost of a hotel booking app. Meaningful features help users interact closely with the application and make the interface more engaging and interactive.
Complexity
Complex functions, such as integrating GPS include more effort and will also affect the final cost. An application coded in a more intricate manner including intensive coding is more expensive and time-consuming to develop.
Security
Secured payment gateways, certificate installations, and additional security layers in the application will increase the cost of a hotel booking app. Applications with impregnable security are sought more by users.
Must-have Features of a Hotel Booking Application
User Account
A user account must have a personalized dashboard displaying their user activities to help them make informed and well-assessed decisions. Previous bookings, scheduled visits, carts, discounts & offers, payment card details, and linked payment wallets and bank accounts can easily be accessed by navigating a user account. The data stored further helps the hoteliers to use this intelligence to generate reports and make analyses.
Search & Filter Option
Users should be able to select the type of hotel based on their preferences, such as location, date, and amenities. Selecting city, date of arrival, and departure through a date picker should also be uncomplicated for a user. Similarly, search filters based on budget and preferred accommodation expedite the navigation for users.
Multiple Language and Time-Zone Support
A hotel-booking application operates in a broader region. An individual sitting in America should have easy accessibility to reserve a hotel conveniently in Africa in their native language. Additionally, traveling worldwide can lead to different time zones. The time zone support facilitates travelers to plan their journey and finalize a favorable stay.
Secure Payment Gateway
A secure payment gateway is another must-have feature for a hotel booking application. It ensures a safe pathway of payment from users to hoteliers. A reliable payment gateway prevents money loss or fraud for both parties— the hotelier and the user.
Accommodation View
A fascinating feature that allows users to visualize their accommodation closely before finalizing is the landscape view. This could be done through 3D views and images. Presently, the travel and tourism industry is incorporating extended reality in allowing travelers to gain a more realistic and immersive experience of the place.
Cancellation and Refunds
Traveling plans are always dicey. Seamless cancellations and refunds are an unskippable feature of any hotel booking application. The uncertainty of the cancellation of reservations and refunding is always a cumbersome process for users. This feature instructs users thoroughly about the deductions and applicable charges during the refunding process.
Push Notifications
These alert notifications significantly improve the customer experience, increase sales, and promote products. Your hotel booking application should alert app users and inform them of the upcoming service or feature even when the app is turned off. Push notifications enhance the overall customer engagement with the application.
Personalized Recommendation
Recommendations based on personal preferences multiply the revenue and generate more leads through socialization. Also, it simplifies the process of searching, filtering, and selecting the most idyllic accommodation with a captivating ambiance.
Reviews and Ratings
A transparent rating system allows users to decide the best hotel after reviewing the services and affordability.
How to Build a Successful Hotel Booking Application?
Similar to any other application, a hotel booking application requires a few steps to ensure that the application is useful as well as interactive.
Let’s dive into the process of developing a user-friendly hotel booking application.
Conduct a Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis enables hoteliers to form an outline and the current trends in the hotel industry. A comprehensive guide on native vs. cross-platform application development can elaborate on the correct decision for determining the path to incredible development strategies.
Finalize Design Wireframes
Wireframes help in visualizing the interface of the hotel application. Immersive and navigable interfaces attract users significantly reducing the bounce rate and increasing user engagement.
Contemplate the Features
Innovative features assist in boosting user confidence by rendering the services they need to book the best accommodations.
Determine a Minimum Viable Product
A minimum viable product helps in attracting early adopters of the application idea. Moreover, the validated idea boosts hotel owners’ confidence and they gain access to the mindsets of users.
Result Evaluation
It helps in identifying the pros and cons of the idea, illuminating the direction for necessary transformation.
Update Features
Rudimentary features should be replaced with advanced and more useful features to entice and satisfy customers for longer periods.
Conclusion
A hotel booking application empowers a user to select the best accommodation that peacefully aligns with their preferences, budget limit, and desired amenities. Similarly, it boosts the relationship of a hotelier or stakeholder with customers by providing them the services and comfort they yearn for while traveling.
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