Do you know the travel and tourism industry’s revenue is projected to cross USD637.658 Billion in 2022 and continue to grow at a CAGR of 10.47%? What is more shocking is that online booking shares most of the trillion-dollar worth of the travel sector.
Travel booking websites like KAYAK made it easy for people to plan vacations and make bookings for flights and hotels. Now imagine using mobile applications for travel booking, it will save a lot of time and effort. We will understand the process of developing a flights & hotel booking app with the help of types of travel apps, features, and cost to make an app like KAYAK.
Basically, KAYAK is the number one site for travelers to find flights and hotels. Because it is a travel search engine that helps millions of travelers search across thousands of travel sites and millions of hotel listings. Further, it acts as a travel agent for enquiring, booking, and finding vacation packages. KAYAK shows results for flights, hotels, car rentals, and travel package searches.
The KAYAK travel app also lets you know about the best deals on flights and hotels. But why would you make an app like KAYAK? The answer is to alleviate your targeted travelers’ problems while planning their trips.
But above all, developing a travel app helps Tour Operators, Hotel chains, resorts, transportation, and travel agencies streamline their operations. Not to mention, flights and hotels booking app development enables excellent customer service and business expansion, as well as overcoming the below industry obstacles.
Travel & Tourism Businesses Challenges That Can Be Overcome With A Mobile App
You already know that with every tech advancement, customer expectations and business success barriers also increase. However, with the cognitive tech solution for your travel agency, you can address every challenge such as;
- Meeting Stiff Market Competition
- Growing Customers Expectation
- Meeting Advance Technology
- Taxation & Regulations
- Delivering Better Customer Experiences
- Being Cost-effective & increasing profit
- Managing Schedules & Timings
Now let us talk about our hero app KAYAK and understand its functionality.
How does KAYAK work?
Founded in 2004 and acquired by Booking Holdings (Priceline.com) in 2013 is an American online travel agency and metasearch engine. When users search on KAYAK, it scans for details on hundreds of travel sites in seconds and presents the optimum results.
However, many factors matter to KAYAK to list results after users start a search. It has to be a combination of information, such as price and traveler ratings, or characteristics like duration and stops that could affect travelers’ comfort. Yet, users generally get the details they look for with filters the KAYAK app offers to tailor the search.
Noteworthy, the company doesn’t sell tickets or process reservations. Although, it helps travelers find the information they need and compare prices of flights, hotels, car rental, etc., at their travel destination. Nevertheless, if a user wants to book flight tickets or hotel rooms, it redirects to the website of service providers.
So, basically, the business model of KAYAK is to serve travelers with required information collected through travel suppliers and travel agencies. In addition, KAYAK users can research their trips for free. You must be wondering how KAYAK makes money, right? So, KAYAK’s revenue-generating system is so simple that it includes;
Advertising: KAYAK earns through displaying travel-related advertisements on their site/app. Thereby, travel companies associated with KAYAK pay when users click on an advert that interests them.
Distributed revenue: KAYAK acts as a distribution channel to travel services providers, and they leverage its popularity. In return, travel agencies distribute a share of revenue when KAYAK sends customers to their website.
Key Features To Make A Travel App Like KAYAK
- In-app payments
- Agent Management System
- Real-Time Chat Integration
- Weather Integration
- GPS Based Location Services
- Interactive scheduling
- Language Translation
- Currency Converter
- Ratings & Reviews
- Push notifications
- Digital Document Saver
- Local Emergency Services
- Content Management Systems
Besides above, below are features that make KAYAK noticeable to travelers across the globe.
Price Alerts lets users track flights and hotel prices and even send notifications on the same via email or phone.
Trip feature to organize all the travel information into an editable itinerary to plan the entire vacation as per the budget.
Explore option shows users places they can fly to with the money they want to spend.
Flex Search is to see if users can save money when they are open to travel dates.
Price Forecast signifies when one should book and wait for a flight.
Various App Development Solutions For Travel Businesses
There’s a fair chance that your business may need a custom travel app solution with distinct functionality. Hence, you must know that numerous travel and tourism app development solutions are out there that on-demand app development companies offer. For example;
If You Want To Attract More Leads With An Ultimate Marketing & Branding Solution
- Travel App Development
- B2B/ B2C Travel Portal
- Real-Time Chat Integration
- Discount & Coupons Management
- Integrated Email & SMS Tools
- Integrated Social Media Tools
If You Want To Help Travel Enthusiast Find Their Preferred Stay
- Hotel Booking App Solution
- Hotel Aggregators Solution
- Online Table Reservation Solutions
- Vacation Home Rental App
If You Want To Develop A One-Stop Transportation Solution
- Train & Flight Booking App Solution
- Bus and Car Booking App Solutions
- Car Pooling & Sharing App Solutions
- Boarding & Check-in App Solution
- Vehicle Rental App Solution
If You Want To Offer A Mobile Travel Planner Solution And Earn Recognition
- End-to-end Travel Planning App Solutions
- Travel Guide and Concierge Hire App Solutions
- City-based Navigation App
- Community Apps for Travel Bloggers
- Travel Places Suggestion App Solution
- Travel Package Management Solutions
Read this if you want to build a travel app like Expedia or TripAdvisor.
Leveraging Cutting-edge Technologies for Travel Industry
Adhering to the latest technologies will not only make your app competitive but also ensure high user engagement. To stand out in the travel industry with a mobile app, you can employ the following tech trends.
Blockchain
- To offer an open-access distributed ledger of hotel inventory
- Make every transaction secure & stable
- Decentralized and traceable data
- Enable global payments
Artificial intelligence
- Used for travel planning and resources
- Generate better analytics and reporting
- Offer next-level customer service with chatbots
- Traffic estimation and scheduling
AR/VR
- Display captivative pictures for marketing
- Enhance customer experience
- Provides virtual travel experience
Beacon
- Accelerate the check-in process and save time
- Offering discounts based on proximity
- Improves staff productivity
How much does it Cost to Develop an app like KAYAK?
The travel app development cost ranges from $15000 to $50000; because predicting the exact cost to create an app like KAYAK may not be possible. Given it ultimately depends on your project type. Moreover, the following factors also influence the development cost.
- Selection of Platform (Android, iOS, Web)
- Number of Features Integration
- Selection of Country to Develop App/website
- Types of Hosting Server
- Design complexity
- Third-Party Integrations
- Quality Assurance
- Support & Maintenance
Follow our guide on how to select an app development company for startuppers; if you have no idea how to find the right developers,
Despite that, you can also consult our executive to hire mobile app developers or get your travel app idea validated. We would be honored to help you on this journey and make the most out of your investment with long-term support.