Importance Of Mobile Application For Travel Agency

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Importance Of Mobile Application For Travel Agency
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(No Transcript)
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The whole world has literally shifted online a
decade ago, with smartphones bringing services
down to the size of your palm. Mobile technology
had painted the most convenient way of catering
to your daily work without so much as leaving the
comfort of your homes or the warmth of your
office seats. Their influence has touched every
single industry including the travel and tourism
sector. The latter has gained a strong online
presence with their websites, courtesy the
efforts put up by travel agency website
developers. But, overlooking the importance of
owning mobile-optimized website and a fitting
application can prove to be detrimental for their
businesses, which is, again, for obvious
reasons. Besides being the most convenient
option for young travelers, the rationale behind
building mobile applications for your
online/offline travel agency is huge. Why go
mobile??? Or, to put it in better words, Why
mobile application for your travel business? To
answer this question, lets sneak a peek into
some important statistics.
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Now, as per Statista, the travel and tourism
industry is expected to generate nearly 17.3
billion US of revenue this year, i.e. 2020.  Out
of this, a huge chunk of businesses come from
smartphone applications and mobile-optimized
travel websites. In fact, 45 of travel app
users agreed that notifications containing trip
status updates were most useful, more so because
85 of smartphone users plan their leisure trips
using smartphone applications, according
to GoodWorkLabs. A recent survey shows that Baby
Boomers are expected to take three or four
domestic trips and at least one international
trip in the year of 2020, especially when many
are retired and tight budget is no more a matter
of their concern. And, this generation is
more app savvier than you may think, with 65.5
and 55 of them owning a smartphone or a tablet
respectively. This particular generation may not
be overly active on Instagram but they look for
mobile applications that deal with healthy
living, shopping and traveling. But if you are
targeting the younger generation, then owning a
mobile application for your travel agency becomes
all the more important, because this generation
practically eats, sleeps, works, and travel
online. Most of them are young Insta-influencers,
so aligning your services to their preferences is
imperative for the survival of your agency.
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Keeping this fact in mind, most online travel
agencies have started using travel agency
software to enhance the travel booking and
planning experience of the holiday goers. And,
the latters preferences are convenience, as well
as, a one-stop mobile solution for all their
problems. As Erika Costell, Influencer, YouTuber,
Singer and Entrepreneur, puts in, people want
compelling bite-size content that they can
quickly consume. Here, you can argue saying
that merely hiring a travel agency website
developer will suffice to gain a strong online
presence through a website or a mobile-optimized
one. However, there is a hidden catch here. Ask a
website developer! Or, proceed to the next
section. Mobile app or mobile website for your
OTA First and foremost, desktop internet usage
has dropped from 54.86 to 46.5 wherein mobile
users share market witnessed a rapid increase in
the figure from 37.38 to 48.33 in 2019.
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Now, every website developer for a travel agency
or any other service knows a website has to be
responsive to adjust easily to different screen
sizes and layouts. Yet, there is a Big But here.
And, i.e. there are huge possibilities to using
mobile apps for your business since they offer
Push notifications Tap-to-call/email Device
vibration/ alerts Camera Instant and automatic
updates Offline access Use of immersive
technology like Augmented and Virtual On the
other hand, mobile websites are susceptible to
technological constraints in offering such
features, and desktop websites have no scope here
whatsoever. Also, to bring to your notice, a
mobile website may not support travel software
development services, but a mobile application
definitely can, and so can a desktop website,
without any doubt. After all, we are not asking
you to discard a website altogether cause that
will be the greatest blunder one can ever make.
All we are saying is to have a strong mobile
presence, not in the form of a mobile website but
in the shape of a super application.
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Your online travel agency will surely benefit
from owning a super mobile application for both
android and iOS users. Now, lets see how your
agency is actually getting benefited. Perks of
owning a mobile app for your OTA You are always
holding a smartphone You are always using a
smartphone, whether you are at work or chilling
out at your home. Your eyes are hooked on the
smartphone screen and your fingers are busy
swiping right or left as you scan others posts
on social media. At times, you are simply
shuffling through the apps, but your phone is
still on your hand. The moment you get an update
or a notification, you start checking them out
without losing a single second. Potent marketing
tool Use of popular social media buttons such as
Instagram make it easier for the travelers to
post their travel pictures online while reviewing
your site post their vacation. And, this is one
of the many promotional strategies you can use to
promote your online travel agency. An application
is considered a potent marketing tool by many.
Also, your users social media posts will help
you to design personalized marketing strategies
to push a specific destination or a tour package
on their screen that will gain a quick response
from the users.
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Get immersive views of destinations India Virtual
Reality Tours will take tourists to forts,
palaces and other exotic tourist hot spots before
they plan their vacation online. Dubai has done
it and a bit more with its famous VRZoo and so
did Los Angeles. Immersive views of destinations
can be considered another important marketing
tool which, however, is not supported by a
mobile-responsive or a desktop website. Only a
smartphone with the right-kind of configuration
can support immersive virtual tours. Easy
booking and easier transactions The mobile
application has proved to be an easy option to
make your customers travel bookings while they
are traveling to work, riding a cab, metro or a
bus. And, it is equally easy to make payments
against those bookings as well, all thanks to
online payment modes like internet banking,
Paytm, PayPal, Google Pay and few others. In-app
cab booking options Most online travel agency
applications are super apps that offer a one-stop
solution for travelers who are looking for
getting flight tickets, making hotel
reservations, hiring airport pick-up or drop
vehicles and planning the whole itinerary online.
Travel agency software services such as Flying
Bird make it possible for OTAs to offer
one-in-all kind of travel services to the
customers, which, if applied to the mobile
application, can really benefit the travelers.
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Attractive offers and discounts Online travel
agencies are known to provide lucrative offers
and deals on travel bookings through apps,
similar to what Zomato and Myntra do. But, such
offers are not available if you are using the
mobile version of the travel website. Real-time
updates Information about unforeseen emergencies
such as Flight Delays or Cancellations, Late or
Early Arrivals and so on are easily pushed to the
respective vacationers phones via your agency
application, thereby saving some precious time of
your customers. Offline updates on local
weather Although applications require an
internet connection to run smoothly on a
smartphone, there are certain features that your
customer can easily access even if their phone is
offline. For example They can get real-time
local weather forecast updates to help them plan
and make timely bookings based on the weather
conditions of the place or places they wish to
travel.
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Geolocation and IoT-based smart
destinations Geolocation features in apps always
come in handy. The real hikers prefer living,
eating and moving like the locals, so they depend
on the geolocation feature of their travel
application all the more. It is easier for them
to move around and find places easily without
depending on strangers for directions. Again,
tourists can easily lay their hands on a wide
range of useful data pertaining to local culture,
hotels, weather and so on, on their travel apps,
courtesy IoT enabled smart geolocation
feature. Customer-centric Now, user centric
apps will fetch immersive videos and images of
the destinations before a traveler can book a
holiday. But based on their search histories,
only those destinations will feature that
interest them the most. And, packages along with
offers are shared all based on their data.  
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Still thinking mobile app or mobile
website??? The travel and tourism industry has
witnessed a great many changes, modifications,
and set-backs. The key players, as well as the
new wannabes, have evolved themselves to align
with the forever changing customer expectations
and market trends, all thanks to travel software
development companies. But, their success journey
will remain incomplete if they failed to mobilize
the application market. The numerous benefits of
owning smartphone applications for online travel
agencies are strong enough to convince that
mobile apps are the future! Source
http//blog.gorangatech.com/importance-of-mobile-a
pplication-for-travel-agency/