Guide To Travel App Development: All You Need To Know

According to Statista, the total revenue of the travel industry in 2022 is $333.4 million and is projected to reach a whopping $507 million in 2026. This translates into a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.06%. Not only that, the in-app purchase revenue from travel apps has surpassed the $88 million mark by 2022 while the paid app revenue from travel apps will reach a $99.61 million mark by 2022. There are many agencies that are offering travel app development services so that they compete with their competitors.

That is not all, the advertising revenue from travel apps will reach $145.80 million by the end of 2022. Travel apps are also growing in popularity which is evident from the number of downloads. The number of travel apps downloaded has reached 2308 million downloads in 2022 and is expected to surpass 3468.1 million downloads by 2026.

Do you want a travel app for your business but don’t know anything about travel app development? If yes, then this article is for you. In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about travel app development.

Comprehensive Guide To Travel App Development

What is Travel App Development?

What Are The Different Types of Travel Apps?

What are the Key Features of a Travel App?

How To Develop a Travel App?

● Set goals

● Research

● Platform Selection

● Choosing the right features

● Design the app

● Development

● App Testing

How Much Does It Cost To Develop a Travel App?

Comprehensive Guide To Travel App Development

What is Travel App Development?

Travel app development is the process of developing an app that allows users to research travel destinations, find the best deals on flights and accommodation. Users can also check tourist reviews and read travel guides. In short, travel apps make it easier for travelers to plan their trips.

What Are The Different Types of Travel Apps?

Travel apps come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the common types of travel apps are:

• Travel planning app (flight and accommodation booking apps)
• Virtual tour app
• Deal alert app
• Transportation app
• Navigation app

What are the Key Features of a Travel App?

Here are some of the key features that every travel app must have.

• Simple sign up process
• User management
• Search feature
• Listings
• Booking and reservations
• Navigation
• Reviews and ratings

How To Develop a Travel App?

Wondering how I can develop a travel app? Here is a step by step travel app development process you must follow:

• Set goals
• Research
• Platform selection
• Choosing the right features
• Design the app
• Development
• App testing

Let’s look at each step in more detail to give you a better idea about how it works.

• Set goals

Before you start the travel app development process, it is important to know why. Why are you creating the travel app? What is the purpose behind it? What do you want to achieve with the travel app? Answering all these questions will give you the clarity you need to do a better job during the later stages of app development.

• Research

With your sights set on a clear objective, the next step would be to identify and analyze both the direct and indirect competitors. Look at what unique features and services their app is offering and your’s don’t. This will give you a better idea about what the users already like and which features they don’t like. Also look for their weaknesses and capitalize on them. For instance, their app might not have a feature that your travel app is offering. It can serve as a competitive advantage for your travel business.

• Platform Selection

Which platform does your target audience prefer? If the majority of your target audience are on android then you are better off developing a travel app for the android platform. On the contrary, if a major chunk of your target audience uses iOS then your travel app should be on the iOS platform. 

There are a lot of different factors other than the target audience that can also influence your platform choice. Some of them include: 

• Cost
• Complexity
• Time
• Availability of tools and skills

• Choosing the right features

After choosing the preferred platform for your travel app, it is time to decide which features should your travel app contain and which ones it should leave out. The feature selection should be in line with user demands. If users want to see a certain feature or they like a certain feature, you must include it in your travel app. On the flipside, if they are not interacting or using a certain feature, it is better to leave it out than including it for the sake of it.

• Design the app

Instead of jumping into the development phase directly, it is better to first create the logical structure of your travel. Create a workflow, mockup or logical design of your app on paper then start designing the user interface around it. Keep user experience top of mind when designing user interfaces. Your travel app user interface should not only be eye catchy but also functional. Design the user interface in such a way that users can perform any task with minimal effort.

• Development

With all the pieces of the puzzle in its place, it is time to start breathing new life to app designs through mobile app development. To minimize the risk of costly rework, it is highly recommended that you develop a minimum viable product first and take feedback on it. Use an iterative model proposed by agile methodology to bring continuous improvement to your mobile app in the light of user feedback. This will allow you to deliver a more refined final output free from bugs and errors.

• App Testing

Once your travel app is ready, test it. Make sure all features of the travel app are working as planned and there is no error or bugs negatively impacting the user experience. Report and iron out any issues so it won’t hamper the user experience of app users. Choose a handful of users and give them early access to your app so they can test it and provide you with feedback. Use their feedback to improve your mobile app even further before launching it.

How Much Does It Cost To Develop a Travel App?

Travel app development cost depends on a lot of different factors. Some of the key factors are:

• Time
• Features
• Type
• Platform
• Location

Once you have understood the different factors affecting travel app development cost, now let’s look at the average cost of travel app development. On average, travel apps used to cost anywhere from $5000 to $30,000 depending on the features.

Here is a cost estimates of a travel based on location and time:

• USA: $310,800 ($150 per hour)
• Eastern Europe: $103,600 ($50 per hour)
• Central and Western Europe: $207,200 ($100 per hour)
• Australia: $207,200 ($100 per hour)

Are you looking for a professional mobile app development company that can give you the best travel apps? If yes, then look no further than Branex.