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There was once a time when we would have to go to a travel agent to book flights, rent cars, accommodation, and many more when planning to travel to a different country, but fast forward today, we can literally do anything on our own with the help of well-developed travel booking websites.
But the thing is, creating an online platform like a travel booking website that allows users to purchase travel products such as flights, accommodation, rental cars, e-visas, and many more requires a lot of planning, considering that you also need to have a separate dashboard for travel agents so they could offer countless customizable travel packages.
Not only that, but you also need to ensure that your travel booking website has enough features that would make the entire process of booking a tour, flight, or anything travel related through your platform easier, which is why during the entire developmental stages of your travel booking site, you need to add certain features.
Let us take a look at some of the most important features that all travel booking websites should have.
Responsive And Has A Mobile Friendly Design
In 2021 the total number of unique mobile internet users stood at 4.32 billion across the globe, which means that 90 percent of those that are using the internet are using phones, which is why it is necessary to have a responsive and mobile-friendly travel booking website is a must if you want to convert internet users into customers.
Not only that, but if your website is not mobile friendly, which means it works on all mobile devices no matter how big their screen resolution is, and is not responsive, it is likely that you will get a higher bounce rate.
Remember, people don’t like it when they’re visiting a website that has imbalances, which is why try to have a website that works on all devices and is responsive.
There are multiple benefits of having a mobile-friendly website, which includes:
- Increased visibility on search engines
- Higher rankings on search engines
- A better overall user experience
- Increased conversion rates
This is why having a mobile-friendly and responsive website is a must.
Optimized And SEO Friendly
A website that loads quickly, is well optimized, has good content and is SEO friendly is more likely to rank on search engines when compared to those that are not, which is why having this feature is a must.
Just like responsive website design, platforms that are SEO Optimized are more likely to be successful because they load fast, they have good content, the images and videos that are uploaded on the website are properly optimized, and everything works finely on the platform.
Customizable Travel Packages
One of the most important features that one should focus on when developing a website is having customizable travel policies.
Anyone that visits your platform should be able to customize the travel packages that are offered to them. This allows them to add and remove certain elements which would help them get something that falls under their budget and make their entire trip duration fun.
Along with customizable travel packages, you have to make sure that you have limitless options for all the visitors that are going to visit your website. Remember, the more packages you would offer, the more you increase your chances of keeping users on your platform, which means a better rate of converting them into your customers.
Smart Booking Process
The entire process of booking a trip should not be hard, which is why when you’re in the developmental stages of your website you want to make sure that you’re coming up with a system and process that’s easy to understand when your users are booking a trip through your platform.
It is necessary for the booking system of your website to include all the information that’s related to the destination, check-in, check-out, contact information, and other relevant travel-related details.
There are benefits of having a smart booking process on your platform too, which includes:
- Open business with no breaks
- Online bookings generate faster payments
- Offers information security
- Helps you reduce your work in half
- Allows you to stay organized
- Offers insight into what you are offering
- And helps you increase your revenue with add-on packages and etc
Search Bar With Predictions And Suggestions
Without a search bar that offers predictions and suggestions on your travel booking website, going through your platform would be extremely difficult, considering that you are offering limitless tour packages to almost every single city and country that’s allowed to be visited.
It is necessary to add a precise and predictive search bar that would give suggestions that would come up while the user is trying to type something as it allows the users to save a lot of time when finding a certain travel package or destination.
All they would be required to do is type in the first couple of letters or words on the search bar and the rest would appear automatically in a suggestion drop box under the search bar that you have created.
Clear Pricing With Tax And Other Fees
You should never create a platform that has no clear prices.
The thing is, no one likes to go with a website that has different pricing than the one that was initially mentioned, which is why it is necessary for you to add this feature when you’re developing a platform.
You need to keep in mind that when you keep on changing the pricings and fees for certain bookings, it is likely that the bounce rate of the travel booking website that you own or run will keep on increasing.
This is why go with a website that offers simple and clear pricing that mentions tax and the other miscellaneous fees that would be charged when booking the travel.
Clear And Beautiful Images Or Videos
Having clear and beautiful images on your travel booking website can help you keep internet users to stay on your platform for a prolonged period of time.
You have to prioritize this as images, videos and collages usually tell a lot about the destination or place that is being looked at by the internet users, which is why make sure that you are adding clear, beautiful, optimized and high-quality pictures or videos on your platform.
Where should you add them in particular? Well, if you’re planning to add them, make sure that they are present in listings for hotels, trip packages, car rentals, or any services and products that you are having on your website. By doing this, you can allow the users to have an overview on what they would be getting.
Automated Emails For Booking Details And Updates
Once a booking has been made, your customer should be getting an automated email that would consist of all the details regarding the booking that they made through your travel booking website.
Not only automated emails for booking details, but your website should also have the feature of sending updates, trending trip packages and many more to the registered users of your website.
Remember, almost 2.7 million emails are sent per second across the internet, and the average open rate of an email is more than 20 percent, which is why it’s necessary to invest in such features when developing a travel booking platform.
This can help you generate a lot of revenue, increase your website visitors and could help you reach more potential customers, collaborators and investors.
Social Media Links
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms are huge these days, they’re so huge that there were an estimated 4.2 billion social media users worldwide in 2021, which is why you should be adding the links of your profiles on such platforms on the travel booking website that you are making.
Not only having the links on your website, but you also have to be active on those social media profiles so you can keep on updating, informing and sharing the latest news regarding the services and products that you are offering.
The amount of traffic, customers and visitors that you can get from social media into your website is huge.
Testimonials And Customer Reviews
Without a testimonial section on your website and reviews on the tours or packages that you are offering, people will have a hard time convincing the users on your website that they are getting something decent.
Reviews basically allow the users on your website to have an overview on what it would be like if they avail the things that you are offering, which is why having them is necessary. The good reviewed packages are more likely to be availed and those with bad ones are more likely to be ignored.
Conclusion
Developing a travel booking platform is going to take a lot of time, and in order to make a huge impact in the market that you’re about to step in, you would have to add the features that would make the entire process of booking a travel trip from your platform an easier one. If you are looking to add some, go with the ones that we have listed above!
