The Ultimate Guide to Travel Portal Development Like Goibibo

In the past few years, the Indian online travel industry has evolved tremendously, expanding its market size from $5.7 billion in 2015 to $7.24 billion in 2024. Popular travel apps like Goibibo, Yatra, and iXigo are probably the most significant drivers behind this success. Particularly, Goibibo has become a household name, winning the trust of over 700K Indian travelers. Today, it offers a range of booking services for flights, hotels, trains, cars, and buses, adding to its estimated annual revenue of a whopping $374M annually. We are sure these figures are enough to clear all your doubts about whether you should invest in B2B travel portal development or not. 

So, now you might be all interested in developing a travel app like Goibibo; here comes the most crucial part - understanding the process. Mobile app development isn’t a pay-go-go service where you pay and get a ready-made solution. Instead, you need to be a part of the process to ensure everything goes as expected. And if you lack knowledge about the development process, you might find it challenging to decide what to do next, resulting in unexpected delays and even project failure. 

So, with our industry knowledge and expertise in developing similar projects, we have created this detailed guide that will help you understand the nitty-gritty of b2b travel portal development, including the features it should have, monetization models it will work on, required technology stack and finally the cost of developing a travel app like Goibibo. 

But first, let’s look at the…

Key Statistics and Market Size of Online Travel Industry

• The travel industry in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.62% to reach $34.25 billion by 2028. (Source: Statista)
• Online booking is expected to contribute 76% of all travel revenue by the end of 2028. (Source: Stratos)
• Nearly 74% of Indians prefer online booking for travel. (Source: ET BrandEquity)
• Travelers spent on average 5 hours to plan their trip 45 days before booking their journey. (Source: Travelperk)
• About 32% of travelers use a website through the smartphone to book travel, and 23% directly book from a mobile app. (Source: Travelperk)

Benefits of Investing in B2B Travel Portal Development

Creating a mobile app for your travel business can be a game-changer move. Integrating modern technologies like AI in the development of travel apps can streamline the development process and significantly improve the user experience with its impressive features. 

Here are some advantages of a B2B travel app:

Cost and Risk Reduction

Online travel booking apps can automate regular tasks and enhance communication, which helps decrease operational expenses and reduce the risks related to manual mistakes and inefficiencies. The ability to store digital copies of crucial documents directly on devices has become convenient, greatly lessening manual labor and associated unnecessary costs in the travel process.

Furthermore, mobile apps minimize risks for your agency. Automation reduces the chance of human errors, robust security measures protect against data breaches, automatic backups lessen the risk of data loss, and real-time updates help travelers avoid unexpected delays, assist in crisis management, and decrease travel risks.

Round-the-Clock Availability

There is no better way to earn your customer trust than to respond to their inquiries and promptly address their issues. The travel and tourism sector operates 24/7, and providing assistance to customers at any time is essential for your app to succeed. 

A significant advantage of a travel mobile app is the potential to incorporate AI-powered chatbot development into your product, making it accessible to your customers day and night. They can reach out to you whenever they need to, from wherever they are. 

A 24/7 chatbot assistant for the travel app can manage questions about flight availability, hotel room availability, cancellations, ticket prices, and cheaper alternatives.

Boosted Visibility and Outreach

Having an online travel app can help businesses promote their brand, services, and offerings beyond geographical limits. Mobile apps have global access, making internet marketing via social media more straightforward and cost-effective than traditional marketing methods. Plus, travelers can access all the information they need directly from the app.

Improved User Experience and Engagement

Travel apps offer a user-centric and personalized experience. Features like real-time reservations, trip planning, and travel suggestions increase customer engagement and satisfaction. There's no doubt that user experience is crucial in any business.

For those in the tourism sector or considering an investment in this industry, adopting technology and staying updated with travel app trends is not just an option but a necessity. Mobile apps, especially those with user-friendly interfaces and a wide range of features, have become the go-to choice for reaching a wider audience, outpacing traditional physical travel agencies.

Competitive Edge and Distinction

In today's world, travel apps are not just a showcase for businesses; they have become a must-have for agencies. Companies are using the internet and technology to outshine their competitors.

An additional advantage of having a tailor-made mobile solution for your business is that it can help you generate new leads and enhance brand recognition in the industry.

Core Features and Functionalities to Consider in Travel Portal Development

When you're building a travel app, it's important to remember that different users will interact with various sections of the app. For instance, the customer section will have features like booking and payment options, while the admin section won't need a payment option. The features for each section are determined based on their purpose and the users who will be using them.

Here's a breakdown of the different panels:

• Customer Panel
• Admin Panel
• Agent Panel

#1. Customer Section

The customer section is the app's front end that users can see and use. It has various features designed to enhance the user experience. Here are some features that you might want to include in the customer section:

Registration/Sign In

This feature allows users to sign up quickly with your business and save personal details like their name, email address, phone number, home address, and other preferences. This helps personalize the user experience on the platform. If you're planning to launch your travel app, it's recommended that you work with a travel portal development company to create a visually appealing app.

Search Feature

The search feature is a must-have for any travel app and requires careful consideration. Including a search icon at the top of your app allows users to find information within your app instantly. This feature is a comprehensive search engine for travel-related queries, such as information about destinations, flight or hotel bookings, and more.

Hotel Search

Accommodation is a crucial part of any trip, so having a detailed hotel search feature in your app can cater to various traveler preferences. This can include preferences for price range, location, amenities, and star ratings. You should also include a filter feature for more in-depth hotel searches.

Flight Booking

The flight booking feature of a travel app provides customers with real-time flight information for their chosen dates and destinations. This includes flight availability, seating arrangements, and whether the flight is one-way or round-trip.

Trip Details

In a separate section, a feature like "Trip Details" or "My Booking" allows customers to access details of their past and future trips, including booked flights and accommodations. This feature can be used to record past travel bookings, cancellations, and payments, which can be useful for customers to review later.

Reviews & Feedback

This feature is all about gathering user feedback. After a user books a ticket, hotel, or flight, their feedback on the experience helps developers understand the app's user-friendliness. Additionally, it helps new users to get an idea of whether the app is worth using or not. 

Contact Support

This feature provides users with the necessary contact information for the organization when they need help or can't find the information they're looking for.

In-App Payment

Once a booking is confirmed, the in-app payment gateways facilitate payment. Different gateways may offer other functionalities. Remember, In-app payment processing offers convenience within the app. 

Push Notifications

This feature sends reminders to users about their upcoming trips and updates them about new offers and discounts. It's a subtle way to remind users about any sales, discounts, or pending bookings.

Real-time Booking

This feature allows users to book their travel trips in real-time. For example, while booking a hotel, the app might notify the user, "Hurry up; only two rooms left." This real-time information enhances the user experience.

Live Weather Updates

This essential feature provides live weather forecasts to help users plan their trips in advance. Information about the best time to visit a place can increase the likelihood of travelers booking a trip.

Smart Voice Search

This feature allows users to search by speaking. The AI can respond to the user's query using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques and speech recognition, elevating your app to a premium level.

AI-generated Personalized Recommendations and Itineraries

This feature uses AI to generate a custom-made itinerary for your chosen destination. It can also customize places to visit and eat according to your preferences.

#2. Admin Panel

The Admin dashboard has features essential for administrators to manage bookings and related details efficiently. These features give the administrator complete control over managing users, agents, and other operations.

User Management

The Admin panel enables the administrator to handle client data, including reservation specifics, payment details, cancellation or refund information, user profile management, and more. This user management feature allows the administrator to manage each booking more efficiently.

Agent Management 

The feature for managing agents is crucial for concurrently maintaining the data of all third-party property owners and agents. This includes data related to the property and packages and the verification of property owners and agents.

Ad Management

The administrator must regulate the app's capacity to display relevant advertisements. The administrator must ensure that the advertisements are travel-related, adhere to the parent company's policies, and do not exceed limits, as this could lead to higher bounce-back rates.

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#3. Agent Panel

This panel is dedicated to the tools that assist agents in handling travel packages, trip specifics, and other valuable data.

Property and Travel Packages Management

This is a crucial component of the agent dashboard as it allows property supervisors or travel package providers to modify their offerings—such as availability dates, room vacancies, guest count, and payment specifics.

Reservation Management

Agents can approve or deny reservation requests submitted via the booking feature. This includes requests that adhere to hotel regulations and additional requirements like extra beds, smoking or non-smoking rooms, etc.

Transaction Management

It's essential for hospitality businesses to manage multiple customer payments simultaneously to expedite transactions, refunds, and taxes. This feature was designed to monitor the invoice for the bookings made, process payments, and administer refunds.

Monetization Models for B2B Travel Portal

Choosing the right revenue model is vital for businesses to develop travel apps. Here are some typical methods of how travel apps make money: 

Advertising

Advertising is probably the most lucrative monetization method for travel apps. Service providers like hotels, tour operators, and various transport services (airlines, cruise companies, buses, etc.) can pay to showcase their offerings on the travel app. Ad spaces can be sold individually or in bulk, or even rented out for specific durations such as an hour, a day, or months.

Paid Downloads

In this model, users pay a one-time fee to download your app. However, it's essential to demonstrate that the app is worth the cost. This model is successful only if you can offer exclusive benefits and convince users that your app offers more value than competing apps.

Freemium and Premium Features

While most travel apps are free to download and use, they may offer limited features in the freemium model. Users may have to pay extra for premium features. However, app owners should ensure that these premium features offer significant value to users, or the app may remain in the freemium model.

Paid Subscriptions

Similar to the pay-per-download model, a paid subscription can be an excellent revenue generation model for a travel app. You can charge users (like travelers, hoteliers, tour operators, etc.) monthly or yearly. But again, it's crucial to offer excellent value for their money.

Affiliate Sales

Affiliate sales, or commissions from bookings (like ticket sales and room bookings), can be a significant source of revenue for travel apps. This model benefits everyone - hoteliers and tour operators gain customers through the app, and app owners earn a steady income by referring customers.

Required Tech Stack for B2B Travel Portal Development

Here, we have listed the required technology stack for developing a travel app like Goibibo: 

• User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX): The app's visual design can be created using tools like CSS, Google Sketch, and Adobe Photoshop.
• Analytics: Incorporate tools like Microsoft Analytics, Firebase, Appsee, and Fabric for data-driven insights.
• Location Tracking: Services like Google Maps and the Core-Location framework for iOS can be used to embed location-tracking features in your mobile app.
• Cloud Data Storage: To handle the vast amount of data your app generates, consider using cloud services like AWS (Amazon Cloud Service), Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure.
• Payment Gateways: Integrate options like credit/debit cards, PayPal, Braintree, net banking, and e-wallets to offer diverse payment methods to your users.
• Coding: The app's front end can be built using CSS3 and Bootstrap, while the back-end can be developed with languages like JavaScript, AngularJS, Ruby, Python, or Django.

How to Develop a B2B Travel Booking App Like Goibibo?

So, now that you’re all set to have a travel app, here’s a detailed development process to help you understand what it takes to develop an app like Goibibo: 

Step 1: Identifying the Type of App

A travel app is an umbrella term for different apps, such as trip planners, ticket booking apps, accommodation booking apps, transportation booking apps, travel guides, weather forecast apps, navigation apps, and more. The first step in creating a unique service is selecting one type. If you aim to create an app with various features, you can mix and match as needed.

Step 2: Conducting Competitor Research

To successfully develop a travel app, it's crucial to understand the structure of existing apps in the market. Therefore, competitor analysis is a necessary step. Researching your competitors can help you identify their strengths and weaknesses.

Step 3: Defining Key Features for the App

Once you've studied your competitors and gained a thorough understanding of travel apps, it's time to define your app's essential features and integrate the best features to provide an excellent user experience. 

Some of the basic features include:

• User account registration
• Search filters (location, time, budget, etc.)
• Detailed tour packages
• Hotel booking
• Comprehensive travel guide
• Geolocation travel services
• Chatbots for assistance
• Secure multiple payment channels for cashless transactions
• Booking history
• Emergency services specific to the location
• Review & feedback section

Step 4: Choosing the Platform

Before you start developing the app, decide on the platform where it will be launched. This could be iOS, Android, or a hybrid platform. If you want to develop a cross-platform app, consider using React Native, Flutter, or Kotlin.

Step 5: Hiring the App Development Team

Selecting the right team for app development is a pivotal step. It is always advisable to hire a professional and experienced B2B travel portal development company with a track record of success.

Step 6: The Discovery Phase

Once you've assembled your development team, initiate a discovery phase to understand the app goals comprehensively. In this phase, the client and developers discuss the project's scope, current market trends, and all technical specifics to devise the optimal solution.

Step 7: Application Development

This is a crucial stage in the development of the travel booking app. An engaging UI/UX is what draws users in. Design an intuitive user interface and establish the coding framework for the application.

Step 8: Launching the Application

After navigating through all these stages, the travel app should undergo testing to ensure its quality. If it meets expectations, it's time to launch the application. Releasing a successful app into the market can significantly boost the growth of your travel business.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Travel App Like Goibibo?

Developing a travel app like Goibibo involves various factors that influence the cost. The price depends on the platform (Android, iOS), the scope of the functionalities, and the development timeline. 

On average, the cost for a single mobile platform (either iOS or Android) starts at $40,000. A more comprehensive travel planning and booking application can cost between $55,000 and $75,000, and online booking services can range from $60,000 to $70,000. 

However, these costs can vary significantly based on the region. For instance, developer rates in North America, Australia, and Singapore range from $70 to $200 per hour. In contrast, the rates are more affordable in countries like India and Indonesia, ranging from $15 to $30 per hour. Therefore, the cost of developing a travel app like Goibibo can vary greatly depending on these factors.

Conclusion

The emergence of travel apps has made traveling a soothing retreat from a busy life. Preparing for these retreats should be equally relaxing, which has been made possible through travel apps. These apps have revolutionized our travel experiences, planning, and ticket booking processes.

While the idea of investing in a B2B portal development seems lucrative, developing it with proficiency and expertise demands careful consideration. A successful travel app like Goibibo or Yatra can be developed by collaborating with an experienced travel portal development company such as Mtoag Technologies. Our expertise and experience in travel booking app development and similar projects will greatly help your app to succeed in this competitive landscape. 

FAQs

What is Travel Portal Development?

Travel portal development is the process of creating an online platform that offers travel-related services. It involves designing and developing software and applications that allow travel agents and operators to make real-time bookings online.

What is the B2B Travel Portal?

A B2B Travel Portal is a specialized online platform that enables businesses within the travel industry to buy and sell services efficiently. It simplifies sales processes, improves service delivery, and drives business growth.

How Long Does It Take to Develop a B2B Travel Portal?

The time it takes to develop a B2B travel portal depends on the project's scope and complexity. It requires a thorough assessment of the agency's needs and can vary significantly.