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Mobile applications have given a boost to the travel and tourism sector. The existence of apps in present days has transformed the experience of travelling completely. You can get quick online travel arrangements done at your fingertips with mobile apps – MakeMyTrip, Yatra, etc. They provide options for planning travel, finding agents, booking tickets, reservation of hotels and route mapping.
What Surveys Say
According to a recent survey by eMarketer, travel-based mobile apps are the seventh most downloaded app category and almost 60% smart phone users, including iPhone and Android users regularly use travel apps to plan trips.
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People explore their destinations all alone at times at their own kind of pace Gone are the days when travellers relied on agents for making travel arrangements. Guidebooks, compasses, maps and other printed stuff have been replaced by travel apps that come loaded with different functions.
1. Easy To Attract Customers
Travel biggie’s such as MakeMyTrip, Yatra.com, Expedia, Gobibo.com etc. succeed consistently in drawing customers by offering attractive deals, coupons and vouchers on their apps. A mobile app will help you reach your customers 24/7 to provide them the best facilities.
Another app introduced by iOS, known as “TripScout” gives you the flexibility to explore destinations all alone and at your own particular pace. This application allows you to discover and investigate new neighbourhoods, eateries, social sights etc. The best part is that you don’t need a guide or a manual, which spares you a considerable measure of time.
2. People Rarely Forget Their Smart phones
You might forget a map, ticket, or a lot of other things. But, a smart phone doesn’t get forgotten easily. This makes a smart phone the best thing to have on a trip. The Google Play Store and Apple Store are flooded with travel apps to make your tours simple and stress-free.
3. Large Variety of Businesses Involved
The tourism industry is comprised of more than just accommodation or sightseeing companies; it also includes transportation businesses, night-life directories, and more like:
Transportation: The way you get to your destination is the most basic thing in planing a travel but, the important part is planing. It is imperative that any company providing transportation (flight, bus company, train etc.) has a highly functioning app in order to indicate all essential information to the customers about the directions, stops, prices, regulatory facts, etc.
Destination Apps: Cities, Regions and Countries, can take advantage of travel apps to show potential visitors that what makes them so special by showcasing aspects such as sceneries, unique traditions, and general culture.
Convenience: An app features the best hotels, restaurants, pubs, etc. that can be used by tourists searching for accommodation, entertainment recommendations, as well as by locals hoping to discover new restaurants in their area.
Events: Apps can keep users updated with all information regarding upcoming events and simplify their lives by allowing them to register and buy tickets from their mobile phones, if necessary.
Hotels & restaurants: Hospitality industry use various methods to develop and maintain an effective marketing plan. From the location to facilities and perks, companies should be sure that they’re providing what buyers are looking for.
Entertainment: Entertainment and leisure activities are always top of the list when people plan their tour. Casinos, pubs, bars, discos, clubs, cinemas, concerts are often reasons for travelling. Most hotel accommodations these days have also inculcated entertainment shows as a part of their programs to spice up and entertain hotel guests.
4. Better Communication
1) Provision Of Customized Services
Gone are the days where tourists take the first deal they find. Social media and apps has seeped its way we look to travel, enticing online users make trips more personalised experience. Certain brands have options where you can work together with the travel experts on how to get the maximum out of the destination you prefer. Either you can choose packages provided or can add extra optional services.
2) Improved Customer Understanding
Every travel brand works hard to please its customers. Identify the key customer needs for product and communication. Brands must tailor their offers to customer interests with content and pricing that is specific to the customer’s travel need at hand.
3) Reduced Paperwork
With travel apps you get soft copies of travel brochures, invoices and receipts, tickets, book hotels and even do passport works. It can save your time, reduces labour and resource cost and guide you 24/7.
4) Streamlines Transactions
Travel companies can use apps as a way to streamline transactions and provide customers with quick and easier e-commerce experience. This can make the company’s work easy and also provide peace of mind to the traveller knowing their accommodation information- confirmations, itineraries, boarding passes, etc. and will be housed electronically for easy access in the future.
5) 24/7 Connectivity
Being available 24/7 show high responsiveness. You can provide these services through different methods like live chat through your website and real time online support. This will indicate that your business is receptive to their needs and is well available to help them out.
6) Improved User Experience
Mobile applications can give an improved user experience easily as they can have all the things a person needs in one packet. Ranging from booking tickets, hotels and finding food destinations there, everything could avail in a single app.
7) New Channel to increase User base
Apps increase the user base, as a whole new stream of people enters into the pool of customers. This in turn raises revenue and people added prove to be more loyal to the business.
8) Integration of other services
Integration of services like banking payments, hotel bookings, information about shopping streets and food corners can help a travel website expand and grow well in the market. This is possible when these services are combined and packed in a single app which is easy to download and use.
9) Easy access to deals and offers
Using such mobile apps, businesses are open to pushing notifications about the new deals and offers. This can excite a user and involve them more into the mobile apps. Every business nowadays has an application for it and not having one for your business may lag you behind. On the other hand, if you have a well-developed mobile app that functions superb, you can get a leading edge and create your monopoly in the tourism market.
10) Convenient and Portable
Travel apps can be linked to geo location-enabled services like Google Maps and GPS to provide maps, directions and even last minute route diversions to unfamiliar locations. To facilitate easy navigation a new app called Triposo, which connects to your Smart phone via Wifi/Blue tooth and helps you to locate tourist attractions. Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation booking website allows people to review rentals and home stays anywhere on the globe through videos and pictures.
11) Weather or Climate forecasting
To make your trips more planned, travel apps now provide information on weather forecasts and t the traveller on upcoming climate changes. An app called WeatherPro, offers high-quality, detailed information on weather conditions.
Travel and tourism sector have immeasurable opportunities, with the advancement of technology, particularly the mobile app development, it is reaching for new horizons each day. Mobile apps are proving vital for all sorts of businesses and so would work well in this industry too. No matter how sophisticated technology is, it can never replace the human factor and interactions.
Technologies can be a critical component in tourism business for obtaining a competitive advantage. A well planned, user friendly travel app can definitely help boost your travel business.
