Meta description: Building an app that can deliver everything that a traveler might want is the only thing that can keep you ahead of the competition. This list of must-haves in a travel app will help you in this plan.
The travel app market is booming which is quite visible in some of the recent reports. The total travel app downloads increased in 2024 to 2.15 billion in total. This is a 4.4% year-over-year growth. The total business it created in 2023 stood at a whopping $600+ billion in 2023 and has been growing since then.
Seeing the immense potential in this area, businesses are developing better apps with outstanding functionalities. If you are also planning to build an app or are already developing, this article will help you in knowing what are the must-have features. Being ahead in travel app trends will help you stay competitive in the market and see more than expected business growth in a market that is continuously on the rise.
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1. Itinerary management
The first and foremost feature a good travel app needs is the itinerary management system. An itinerary app helps users to consolidate their travel plans in one place and integrate those with a calendar. This gives them better control over their plans like rearranging things in case of a flight delay or a cancellation.
For ideas on how planner apps work, visit the best sites and try various popular tools. This will give you a good idea of what the best companies are doing to attract customers and what are their features that customers love. The best planner app for Mac will give you ideas on what you should include in your app function that the customers will really love. You can try different online searches with digital planner for MacBooks and best online planner to find out the one that suits your work plans the most.
2. Travel Guides and Recommendations
Modern travelers expect a lot from their plans. Enable the app to provide outstanding information to the users in terms of local attractions, layovers, offbeat things, shopping recommendations, cultural experiences, etc. Guides from your side combined with user-generated content (UGC) like reviews, photos, videos, etc give authenticity to the information so try to engage the users with it.
3. Smooth bookings and aggregation
Your app should act as a travel aggregator that provides users with everything in one place. You cannot expect users to book flights from one place and hotels from another in today’s times. There might be tools to do that but your effort should be to be a good aggregator. Provide functions that help them compare prices, make bookings in simple steps, and a safe and smooth transaction process.
4. Personalized travel plans
Personalized suggestions are attractive because they provide ideas to the users that they usually miss out on. It also makes the process smooth when you provide them with plans based on their travel preferences and past behavior. Personalized travel plans ensure travel experiences that people remember for a long time and because of that, they return to your app again.
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5. Offline access
People experiment a lot in their travels. Landing in areas with limited internet access is common. This is why offline access for features like itineraries, maps, etc is necessary. This presents your app as reliable and there’s nothing more convincing to a customer than helping them in crunch times when there is no online access.
6. Real-time travel updates
Travel disruptions are a common occurrence. Weather conditions, last-minute flight cancellations, delays, local political environment – there are numerous reasons for disruptions. To provide users some relief in such situations, your modern travel app must use:
● Push notifications
● SMS (text messages)
● Instant messaging app notifications (depending on integration and permissions)
7. Integrated navigation and maps
Unfamiliar destinations, especially away from cities, can give travelers a torrid time. Travel apps can make their lives easier by providing built-in navigation features. Integrating GPS-based maps with AR technology can take the travelers’ experience to the next level.
8. Language and currency support
The world is a global village. For travelers, this holds more relevance than anybody else. Hopping from one country to another and a zeal to try local customs and immerse in that culture is common. What helps the most in this is multilingual support and local-currency-based transactions. This feature is certainly a must-have.
9. In-app 24/7 chat support
A travel guide app is a good thing but 24/7 chat support is also a must. There are tons of queries customers have when planning a trip and maybe even more when they are in a new place. Chat support makes you a reliable service provider and makes your app great for users.
Conclusion
Travel is a time that people cherish and keep in their minds and hard drives forever. Seeing this, it’s important to provide them with an experience on your travel app that can make their travel plans a reality without facing any hassle. In any of the processes, from planning a trip to booking hotels and sharing reviews to claiming refunds, each and everything should be available with simple swipes. A happy customer on your app is the best way to ensure the growth of your business. This will keep attracting new visitors to the app and also bring in new travel enthusiasts continuously – something that every business dreams of.