You’re interested in learning how to create a hotel booking app or a platform where a user can plan a whole trip with only a click, like TripAdvisor? Luckily, you’ve come to the right place. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll take you through the complete process of hotel booking app development, starting with the basics and moving on to more complex topics. By the end of this article, you’ll know everything you need to get started on your own hotel booking app. So let’s get started!
What is TripAdvisor
If you’ve ever planned a trip, you’ve almost certainly used TripAdvisor. But what you may not know is that, in addition to the website, TripAdvisor actually has a prominent booking app. And it is just as wide and comprehensive as the website. It’s one of the most popular travel websites (and now apps) in the world and generates $1.62 billion in revenue, and this is all for plenty of good reasons.
You could easily plan a whole trip on it, from all aspects. As well as booking flights and comparing prices and airlines; TripAdvisor usually offers good and competitive prices. You can also book a hotel, motel, or one of the listed apartments. All of these have been approved to ensure the safety of travelers. It will also suggest local restaurants depending on your location; they are categorized according to cuisine, distance, and overall mood.
You can also explore what to do at your destination, from activities to sightseeing. It’s one place to find all you need during your trip. It helps users avoid the hassles of doing each task at once and makes the process easier and more enjoyable. TripAdvisor has been named one of the world’s most trusted and used booking platforms. With over 490 million monthly active users and 7 million locations to reserve.
Features That Should Be Present in Your App
Booking
The first and foremost feature of TripAdvisor that you need to work on is the booking feature. In order to create an app as powerful and functional as TripAdvisor, you need to make sure that you provide your app with a booking system that is timely, accurate, and reliable. In order to create an app as powerful and functional as TripAdvisor, you need to make sure that you provide your app with a booking system that is timely, accurate, and reliable, and always connected to both a hotel channel manager and a property management system so it has the most up-to-date information.
It also has to have great scalability to handle the growing number of bookings and users later on. “To create an app as powerful and functional as TripAdvisor, you must ensure your booking system is timely, accurate, and reliable. Integrating with a leading property management software can provide real-time updates and streamline your operations.”
User Registration and Login
None of us like to go through the process of filing out information for reservations; it is time-consuming and boring. That is why you should provide your users with a registration and login feature. Users will be able to sign up for your app using the method you choose. Whether it is with a mobile number or an email. And following that, they will be able to store their information in their accounts and retrieve it each time they want to make a reservation. This way, it would be much easier for them to make reservations with only one click and eliminate any chance of user frustration.
Interactive Map
An interactive map is an excellent way to maximize the user experience of your app. You can provide your users with an interactive map of their exact location with all suggestions of restaurants and places to visit present on it. As well as the exact location of the hotel they booked through your app. This would make it easy for users to follow the precise location. At the end of the day, it is a new place that they know very little about, so it would be very beneficial to them.
In-app search
As your app would offer a variety of services and be full of different hotels, flights, etc., it is important to add a good search feature to your app. A user would appreciate the ability to search for a specific hotel, airline, or restaurant and receive accurate and timely results, saving him the time and effort of searching through all lists to find the specific place or service he is looking for. To provide your app users with accurate information, you can also consider using Travel APIs.
Photo Gallery
When users are going through the process of reserving a hotel or a restaurant, the first thing that grabs their attention is a picture of the place they are considering. As a result of this, it is extremely important to have a photo gallery where you can display all of the hotels, restaurants, and sites that are available through your app. You should also give users the ability to view these images before they make a reservation so that they can get an idea of what they can expect during their stay or visit.
Payment Gateways
It is very important that you provide your user with many options, especially when it comes to payment. Multiple payment gateways are something important that should be included in your app. Users shouldn’t be limited to only one payment option; you should consider everyone’s preferences. For instance, some users prefer only using debit or credit cards. Some others prefer PayPal, and some only trust paying with cash. So, it is important to include more than just one.
Live Chat and Chatbots
It is important to provide your users with a place they can turn to in case of a problem or an inquiry. Both live chat and chatbot features act as customer service channels that would be a great addition to your hotel booking app. We all know that many problems can arise while on a trip, such as canceled hotel reservations, delayed flights, or anything else.
It is a list of endless options. Customers should be able to report concerns via live chat and be connected to someone who can answer and solve them. Chatbots, on the other hand, can be used for much less complicated inquiries like asking for directions or restaurant opening hours. Having both channels would boost your app’s reliability for users and tourists.
Reviews and Rating Section
Some people actually access TripAdvisor to read reviews for a specific place. It is essential that users have the space to share their experiences and reviews of places they have visited. And also list everything they see as pros and cons, whether it is a good, bad, or average review. It gives your platform reliability and makes it more trustworthy. Users should also be able to rate the reservations they make on your app. This way, you can filter your app’s registered hotels and restaurants to ensure customer satisfaction.
How Much Would It Cost to Build an App Like TripAdvisor?
So, if an app has a unique and colorful user interface, is rich with features, and can serve a huge number of users, how much exactly would it cost? Keep in mind that each feature you want to add will have a cost. And it won’t be a cheap one. So, for instance, integrating the registration feature would cost an average of $10,000 and take up to 110 hours to develop.
And integrating an interactive map’s cost would range from $15,000 to $25,000 and would take up to 70 hours. Also, by integrating each type of booking, each would have a separate cost and estimated time. But what if I told you that you could skip all of this hassle and develop an app precisely like TripAdvisor? With all of the features described above at the lowest cost and in the shortest amount of time? Would you be interested? Shall we not keep you on the edge of your seat?
Create your Hotel Booking App with nandbox
nandbox can do this and even more in the blink of an eye. nandbox is a no-code app builder where you can develop the best hotel booking app and add the features you need. With a wide variety of features reaching up to 200, such as booking, a built-in store, events, chatbots, and many more. You can also find many pre-made templates you can choose from (or create your own from scratch; it is totally up to you) and choose from many colors to match up to create your app’s color palette. All you need to do is drag and drop the feature you want in your app, and voila! It is done, just like that.
nandbox will also aid you in the publishing step and guide you through everything you need to know. With excellent customer service, available 24/7, that offers you help in each and every step. You can try Nandbox now completely for free and start your hotel booking app development journey!
So, there you have it. A step-by-step guide to creating a hotel booking app like TripAdvisor. It’s not an easy process, but it’s definitely doable (now that you know the not-so-secret and super-effective way), and the results can be well worth the effort. Just keep in mind that it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and attention to detail to create an app that’s as successful as TripAdvisor. So, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, then go for it!
