Why travel and tourism industry need to have a mobile app

Mobile phones have become a necessity for many people throughout the world – nowadays we don’t go anywhere without our phones! Can you even imagine what your day would look alike if you don’t have your mobile phone?

The importance of having a mobile application lays in people’s need for searching everything they need. Let’s say we are going to plan our road trip – and what do we do – we search Google.

Often, we find ourselves in a situation that our desired destination has a poor design and doesn’t provide the information we need.

Did you know that 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site? Are those number good enough for you to start planning your mobile app? Are you wondering how can mobile travel apps boost bookings and revenue?

Let’s compare the statistic about mobile app revenues from 2015 to 2020 to see the growth of use.

According to Statista, in 2015, global mobile app revenues amounted to 69.7 billion U.S. dollars. In 2020, mobile apps are projected to generate 188.9 billion U.S. dollars in revenues via app stores and in-app advertising.

Then, do not be surprised if tourist expects from you to have a mobile app. In fact, 80% of travelers are using the apps to plan their holidays.

Maybe you want to know how to make Android app like professional or need some inspiration on what is essential to have in your app?

Continue reading this blog post, and don’t forget to tell us what is the best feature of every tourism mobile app needs to have!

There is no space for wasting time. You need to follow mobile trends!

Even on vacation, we always have mobile phones in our hands. We are taking pictures, searching for restaurants, clubs, places to see or just scrolling on social media. That is only one of the indicators for how much internet and technology are available these days. We are relying on mobile apps for any kind of information.
The advancement of the internet has deeply affected the way tourism and travel intermediaries perform their business.

Not so many years ago it used to be enough to have a rich cultural history or beautiful nature and few hotels. Today, everyone is fighting for their piece of cake. So do not wait for a miracle, take control in your hands.

Look for example how Airbnb recognized the new trend of traveling and create one of the most popular mobile apps. Airbnb states on its website that traveling is becoming more accessible as the world gets richer and that one billion more people will be in the global middle class by 2030, which means a need for growth.

Let’s see an example of a great tourist mobile app

Here is an example of modern Croatian mobile app which contains augmented reality technology. With a mobile app – Plitvice Lakes, tourist can explore locations through augmented reality by pointing the device in the desired direction. This app makes the customer experience better by help tourists to find their way around the Park, as well as find out about significant locations.

Growth requires the development of smart technology. Making traveling and finding out where to go in the enjoyable part of planning a trip. Make sure that your customers have a clear vision of what are you doing and what you can offer to them by using innovative solutions.

Be flexible and create iOS and Android app to relate with customers, because your customers are using mobiles in every phase of the travel planning process. Use of smartphones and tablets has empowered global tourism picture. Usually, when people arrive at the destination, they download a mobile app of city, park, lake or whatever they are, to be their tour guy.

Mobile apps are transforming the travel and tourism industry

The evolution of high tech mobiles has provided a revolution in mobile technology. This evolution is especially helpful for the tourism industry. Mobile phones allow a user to access internet and book services online. That’s how you cut administration job and focus on marketing.

Anyone anywhere can book tour packages and other travel related services using the mobile. So, if you are in the tourism industry, then it’s the actual time to launch your mobile app to compete with your competition. Also, think about an application which provides information to tourists when they are on destination.  See some of our previous work:
1.Mobile app Plitvice lakes, National Park

The mobile app about the most beautiful destination in Croatia has a task to help tourists find their way around the Park, stay informed about the weather and accommodation, as well as find out about significant events and currency rates.

2. Mobile app Drava Papuk

Tourist board of Virovitica – Podravina County and their mobile app provide detailed visitor information about centers, essential places, services, places to eat, shopping and about natural features.
A large number of application users and great reviews speak for itself. Except mobile apps help you to stay connected with clients, they also help to make strategies for your business.

Top 10 tourism app features

When we established that the tourism sector is a great industry and that having a mobile app is a critical section which gives your story happy end, there is one more question.

What features your tourism/travel app must have to rank among others?

Let’s check out and see which features tourism app must have.

1. Fundamental information

Mobile users are likely in a transactional state, looking for quick information to act on; a phone number, website, address, or better yet – a way to get directions to something. So your mobile app needs to nail content strategy. Create a mobile app that enables users to clear and update information.

2. Location-based information and augmented reality

Mobiles feature sensors that can pinpoint your location which allow the tourism app on your phone to make personalized content. Apps can do more than just tell us about exactly where we are – they offer useful features based on our location. From location-based discovery tools and smart search to games and explore locations through augmented reality by pointing the device in the desired direction.

3. Offline content

Many tourists travel outside their domain country and have no connection to the internet during their vacation. In the development of tourism applications, it is vital to bear this in mind; customers will want to profit from the app offline and enjoy their holidays.

4. Multilingualism

It helps to facilitate communication with customers who travel abroad and help them interact with foreign markets.

5. Calendar

The calendar gives information about events, including the link to road traffic. A schedule also invites customers to current events.

6. Currency converter

Tourist always needs to exchange some currencies. And to know the currency exchange rates, they shouldn’t need to look beyond the tourist/travel app.

7. Geolocation

After dropping at a particular destination the first thing that a tourist wants to check out is a hotel, cafe or a nearby local attraction. With the help of GPS lock, travel app should track your location and quickly give results.

For example, if you are interested in spending time in the woods, this app offers you different hiking trails and bike routes, which include information such as length, walk time, elevation gain and difficulty. Information like those can help the user to prepare for the adventure ahead and plan their day accordingly.

8. Map’s

Map’s are used to find sites, get directions and locate services. If you download the content and map before you arrive, you can use the app everywhere (without internet). Save features in map’s help you to build a route by saving favorite sites and events.

9. Weather forecast

This feature is by default in some tourist mobile apps, don’t forget it – it’s very helpful for tourists!

10. Local cuisine

If you are developing a travel app, you must try to implement this feature. In many cases, travelers prefer an authentic experience rather than eating in a standard restaurant. In tourism app, they should find the list of restaurants where they can eat traditional food and for example, listen to local music.

The benefits of having a tourism app are marvelously for the tourism industry

As we determined, using mobile tourism app provide a lot of benefits for users. That gives us a notion about how much mobile apps are necessary for your travel and tourism business so, let’s see the benefits of having a mobile app for your business.

Every necessary information under one roof.

Mobile applications provide you all help that you need. It leads you through managing and creating process even though you are not a programmer. By managing the content of the web application and keeping track of all the records of a client’s interest, travel and tourism mobile app have an excellent CMS for maintaining the track record of the client’s history.

Powerful marketing tool.

In the digital era, mobile marketing and promotion have become one of the prime tools to increase your business and visibility. So, creating rich content on travel ideas is top one priority, and it leads to customer loyalty.

Marketing strategy.

To make good travel and tourism web application for its users, you must collaborate with transport and booking providers, restaurants, etc. Look at this as the chance to empower business relationships which helps in building a marketing strategy.

Apps reduce paperwork!
Travel brochures, invoices, tickers, and hotel booking papers require a big amount of money! With a mobile app, you can have all of that in one screen! Also, mobile app reduces labor and resource cost.

Build trust with your visitors

Make an experience your visitors deserve

Give your visitors all the information they need and desire, which they would usually have to navigate across multiple sources to obtain and encourage them for further exploration and discovery!

Build a long-term approach

Even after an individual has returned home, an app can play an important role in maintaining an open channel of communication, encouraging advocacy and, ultimately, repeat visits. Use push notification to show the news in the places your visitor liked! Send them information about a new local restaurant or new food that came in their favorite restaurant in your city!
Let them be the first one to know if there are some free rooms in the hotel by the prices only they can have! There are many ideas for you to build a better relationship with your visitors.

Use the power of the pocket companion

As much as visitors research before making a trip, they want to have easy access to information once they actually arrive. They want to know where the best attractions are, where the top-rated restaurants are, easy access to city guides, subway maps, tips on where to shop, etc.

By creating iOS or Android mobile app, you can provide every information your visitor wants. One of your main concerns is how much does it cost to build a mobile app?
Every tourist app is unique, and if we can help with something – we’re listening. 

Clutch listed us as one of the leading B2B service providers in Croatia and we’ve worked with over 100 clients worldwide, from startups to successful enterprises. If you are interested in learning more about how the Factory team translate your ideas into reality, please get in touch.