Are you a hotel business owner or maybe planning to become one? If so, then you’ll need full information on hotel app development. And we hope our article will be very useful to you in this regard.
We're going to explain to you how to maximize the profitability and efficiency of your business through mobile applications. Believe us, every respectful hotel system must own its application!
But why is it important and how to create a booking app? Below, you'll find detailed answers to these and other similar questions.
Mobile apps conquer the world
The hotel business is a highly competitive environment, and it’s not so easy to win your place in the sun. You need to use all possible and available resources to achieve this very aim, and creating hotel apps is one of them. In the end, our world is becoming more mobile day by day, and everyone who wants to succeed must meet the latest demands of our time. It's definitely not enough to have only a website today! So, you should adapt in order to get ahead of all the others.
But first, let's figure out why and how a hotel mobile application would benefit you and your hotel guests.
Why is hotel app development beneficial to hotel visitors?
The main advantage of applications is obvious, though such obviousness doesn't make it less significant. Of course, we mean app mobility! A user can always find a minute to book a room at your hotel and/or order related services. He doesn't need a desktop computer, he doesn't even need a tablet. It's quite enough to have an iPhone or any other similar device that we are used to keeping at hand all the time.
You may ask: "Is it possible to make do with just a mobile version of the site?"
We answer: if you want to cover all the users, the mobile site is clearly not enough. In the end, let's admit that a mobile site without a hotel guest app looks like a rinky-dink or a bit outdated standard... Don't you think so? Thus, if you don’t want to become obsolete, move with the times.
However, there is one small but extremely essential detail... an application for hotels is beneficial to users only if it is designed with an allowance for modern requirements in mind and offers the widest range of possibilities which cannot always be implemented on a website. Further, in the article, we’ll instruct you on the issue thoroughly.
Why is hotel app development beneficial to hotel business owners?
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Mobility factor. Such an advantage is beneficial not only to the hotel guests but to a business owners either. Applications allow you to conduct your business anywhere in the world, in any conditions, and at any time, even without access to your PC.
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The efficiency of communications. The fact that your mobile device is always at hand allows you to react quickly to user behavior (who are your potential clients). An instant reaction to users' comments and questions will definitely have a positive impact on the reputation of your hotel.
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High competition. In world-class hotels, hotel app development has long become an indispensable condition providing guests with a comfortable stay. If you don’t want to grow dim against their background, think about developing a mobile application.
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Additional communication channel. We’re quite sure, you understand: the more channels of communication with clients you have, the better your business's thriving. Don’t deprive yourself of the chance to earn more efficiently!
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Improving the quality of service and productivity of staff. Having the aforesaid channel of communication with clients, you're receiving constant user feedback. You'll probably learn a lot of interesting things about what your visitors think about your hotel services. The truth won’t always be pleasant but helpful if you’re willing to improve your hotel level. There are, of course, much more effective ways to analyze the behavior of your app users and we'll discuss them below.
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Increase in the number of service orders in the room. Let’s say, a guest can be attracted by a beautifully designed restaurant menu of your hotel application software. Being tempted, he might make an unplanned order, thus increasing your income.
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Reducing the cost of the call center work. Due to the many orders coming through the application, you’ll no longer need a large staff of callers.
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The app monetization and attraction of advertisers. Hotel app development would lead to you having an additional source of income.
We guess we’ve clarified the main benefits of hotel app development ideas (to both parties of the process): such applications bring guests a lot of cool privileges, and hotel owners receive an advanced and modern tool to work with their clients in a more efficient way.
Hotel app development with full comfort
First of all, the hotel business is aimed at providing guests with maximum comfort. And your task, as the owner, is to offer a great many amenities, one of which is a hotel guest app. Moreover, your application itself should cause a feeling of comfort.
How can such an aim be achieved? Thanks to two factors: ergonomics and stylish modern design. Read more details below!
What does a hotel booking app market require?
We hope that now you understand why you need to develop a hotel app. And the next step is to figure out what your mobile program should look like in order to attract the maximum number of users and join the ranks of top booking apps.
Let's see!
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Ergonomics. Ergonomics means comfortable to use. And comfort, as we wrote earlier, is inseparably associated with a hotel stay. Only an easy-to-use online hotel booking app would seem appealing to your clients. Therefore, before initiating the hotel app development process, work out the ergonomics factor.
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Laconism. Of course, it's good when you can offer a variety of features to your clients, but you need to do it wisely and carefully; there is nothing worse than an overloaded app interface. Remember the rule of three clicks: ideally, it is the number of clicks a user should make to get the desired result.
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Stylish hotel app design. People are mostly visual. We won’t be satisfied with just a useful thing, we want it to be attractive and able to caress the eye. Therefore, your hospitality app design needs to be developed taking into account this factor. Examine what users are waiting for and give them the desired.
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Relevance. Keep an eye on the latest trends and offer modern solutions. It’s not the case when conservatism is permissible. You may conduct your own desk research or order a professional service from a specialized company before moving to the hotel app development stage.
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Intuitive application. Your task is to develop an intuitive app focused on an average person who is not necessarily smart or experienced enough.
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High speed. Few people like to wait, which means an application with a slow download speed risks losing half of its users. That’s why the speed factor shouldn’t be underestimated.
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Useful and constantly updated content. Your mobile app content must focus on your target audience, so study its tastes and preferences. And don't be lazy to constantly update the information, adding something new and interesting: the content tends to become obsolete quite quickly.
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Adaptation for different platforms. It’s necessary to adapt your hospitality app to different platforms: iOS, Android, ideally - Windows. After all, you cannot tell in advance what device your potential client prefers to use.
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Unique features. You have to offer your user really interesting features able to win his attention and captivate him. Only in this case hotel app development will lead to great success.
What are these features? Let's take a look!
Hotel mobile app features. What should you offer?
What features should a hotel application include? Let's fantasize…
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Hotel booking module. A fairly obvious app feature, but we could not help mentioning it. An important condition: the process of booking rooms should be as simple as possible, the fewer clicks, the better.
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Hotel Information: location, level, rating, etc. Offer your users the opportunity to build an optimal route to the place of their temporary residence.
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News. Users of your hotel application software should be the first to know about seasonal discounts and special offers. Among examples of such news are a new season-opening, the emergence of a new service, the upcoming celebration...
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Analytics. When ordering the development of a hotel app for your business, you can ask to add a module that allows you to analyze the behavior of users in the application, monitor the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, see the preferences of guests. As a result, you’ll be able to meet all the demands of your clients very efficiently.
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Image Gallery. An image gallery gives an idea of how the exterior and interior of your hotel look. Also, you can create several galleries for photo reports, menus, hotel presentations, etc.
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Interactive floor plan. The feature provides an opportunity to present the layout of the hotel, including rooms, facilities inside and outside the hotel, as well as its attractions.
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Rooms. With such a module, you’ll have a chance to show (virtually!) your hotel rooms. You get the possibility to upload images of the room and indicate the cost and services available to the guest while staying at the hotel. Agree, it’d be a very desirable feature, worthy of being taken into account during the hotel app development.
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Loyalty programs. A good option is a policy of loyalty towards app users. Imagine: a guest fills out a questionnaire on a smartphone, and the hotel receives a request and full information about a potential client. The hotel manager allows a discount for this guest. In addition, you can configure the automatic granting of a discount.
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Useful phone numbers. A module that allows a guest to call you directly from the hotel mobile application. Include hotel, restaurant, or taxi numbers, and a guest will be able to get what he wants in one click.
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Events. Create a calendar of your hotel events, so that a guest could view photos and learn information about upcoming social occasions.
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Feedback Forms. It’s also very useful to add a feature which collects the opinions of the guests. By asking clients to evaluate the quality of your service, you’ll gather the information your marketing department would find useful; or you’ll just get good feedback about your hotel.
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Chat with hotel staff. Online chat is an instant messaging feature built into your hospitality app. It provides communication between guests and a hotel manager. Online chat can be used by those who plan to visit the hotel or who live here and need your staff assistance. This module allows you to help your guests in real-time through other means besides phone calls, websites, email, etc.
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Interesting places to visit. We believe that around your hotel, there are places worthy of visiting. That's why we propose to create a module that gives an opportunity to describe these local sights in detail, indicate their coordinates, and supplement them with bright images.
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Quick order. Don’t forget to make a booking app for hotel rooms. We don’t mean a separate application, of course, just provide a feature that would allow guests to order any service at your hotel more quickly. It would come in handy in such cases as booking a table, calling a taxi, ordering breakfast, and so on.
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Menu. A virtual menu is an excellent feature for hotels with a good restaurant system. Show your guests colorful images and mouth-watering descriptions of your restaurant's dishes.
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Flight Information. Such a module could provide your guests with full information about flights anywhere in the world.
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Frequently Asked Questions. The feature offers answers to the most popular questions of your guests, which means it can save you a lot of your precious time.
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Services / Infrastructure. Your hotel certainly has services such as a restaurant, a spa, a swimming pool, and a shuttle service. The module in question will tell your guests about them, as well as provide an opportunity to contact you to make an order. Quite convenient, right? Be sure to add this feature during hotel app development.
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Online and Offline City Map. The module allows you to display a map of a city or local area. Ideally, your map should work in an offline mode either, so that the guest could always find the way to your hotel.
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Sharing on social networks (Twitter, Facebook). It's another way to make your hotel more user-friendly and increase app user engagement. Thanks to this feature, your guests can freely share information on social networks, thus popularizing your hotel.
In short, an effective mobile application means quick access to any information which a user may desire, such as a photo gallery of rooms, a list of services provided, GPS, a quick call, etc. But most importantly, the hotel application software should offer an easy and convenient booking service facilitating rapid decision-making.
Of course, the hotel mobile app features described can be supplemented, modified, optimized... It's not necessary to include all of them, you should choose what seems most relevant and important to you. These are just ideas, but even they would give an effective result and help you get a steady income.
How to lure a user into the application for hotels?
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Discounts for registered app users. Let your clients feel special, chosen: such a feeling will undoubtedly increase their desire to install your hotel guest app.
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Bonuses for activity. Offer users bonuses for their actions, say, a good discount to someone who persuades several friends to install your application. Another good bonus can be a free invitation to a gala evening organized by the hotel - anything not burdensome for you, but able to please your customers.
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Expressive hotel app design. If the application is stylish and visually appealing, users will feel sorry for deleting it. So, more chances to make them save it.
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Active marketing support. Don’t forget to advertise and promote your program, especially at the very beginning. There are many options to promote a program: email marketing, social networks, your hotel site, etc.
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Emotional communication with users. Work on establishing an emotional connection with your users during a hotel app development process. Create a thank you page, insert photos of employees, add a professional description of their activities, use live video streaming technology... All these actions would help your clients to feel emotional intimacy with you.
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Lightning-fast interaction. Your task is to provide fast user support, that is, create buttons and feedback forms able to help users get a quick response from you. In most cases, users open such apps when they intend to order a certain service. Understanding that your application makes their life easier, users are more likely to install it.
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Set up push notifications. Push notifications will make your application more interactive by allowing you to keep your guests informed of events happening in your hotel. Send push notifications every time you update your content. Let your clients see the engrossing life going in your hotel! Perhaps they’ll want to become a part of it too...
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Don't be too obtrusive! It’s significant to be active and persevering, but dangerous to overdo it. Nobody ever likes excessive obtrusiveness. Therefore, you should concentrate, first of all, on the useful components of your hotel mobile application which we've described earlier.
Following these simple tips, you’ll justify the clients' expectations, and they’ll keep your application in order to use it further in the future.
Hotel app development process
The competition in the hotel business is very high, so the whole process should be started with a thorough analysis. Therefore, in the first stage, we necessarily analyze the market and competitors and find out the client's wishes. Based on the information received, we determine the requirements for the future app and proceed to a development stage.
But let’s be more specific.
Development stages:
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Hotel Booking App Ideas. The first stage involves finding the best idea for a mobile hotel application.
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Market analysis and collection of requirements. It’s unreasonable to start product development without finding out the situation in the hotel booking app market.
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Documentation. If you want to be sure of the result, take care of concluding a contract with the contracting team.
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Prototyping. Now that you know what kind of hotel booking app you want to have, it's time to start one of the most crucial stages of the process - prototyping.
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UI/UX. The issue of the importance of design, we’ve already discussed.
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Hotel App Development. This is it, right? The key point of the whole process.
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Quality Assurance. Checking the reliability and performance of the application is another important stage of work.
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Launching and publishing on the AppStore and Google Play. That’s rather clear, isn’t it?
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Subsequent support (if necessary)
Business expertise at the first stage is a necessity. This approach helps in creating hotel apps useful for both hotel owners and their clients.
The hotel app development cost
Of course, many hoteliers will be interested in the hotel app's cost (that is, the cost of creating hotel apps). Let's consider the issue in more detail.
This cost depends on many factors, such as complexity, functionality, design, and so on. The more complex application you want to get, the bigger the budget you may need. You're the only one to decide whether such costs are justified, but we strongly recommend you not to over-economize when developing an application. As we've already mentioned, the app can become a very profitable investment in the future of your hotel business.
If you still want to save money during hotel app development, we might help you by giving some useful tips:
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Don’t pursue the name of the company of developers, be guided by the factor of professionalism. Study the portfolio of potential contractors, read clients' reviews.
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Try to conduct your own initial desk research of your market. Acting so, you won't need to pay for this service by ordering it from professionals.
You'll find more information on ways of reducing your hotel booking app development costs here.
Our advantages
We offer you our mobile app development services. The main reasons to hire Agilie team:
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successful hotel app development experience;
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a conclusion of a treaty with the prescribed conditions of cooperation and сlear deadlines
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business expertise in the development of start-ups;
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a team of experienced experts of different profiles;
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uniqueness: no standard solutions!
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the high speed of work while maintaining its efficiency;
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a guarantee that your application will be moderated and published on Google Play and AppStore.
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clarity of business processes.
For more than 7 years, we've been specializing in the development of iOS and Android applications for different fields of activity including the hotel booking app market. We have huge experience of successfully completed projects and hope that your mobile booking program will soon join the list of our achievements too.
Ready to cooperate? Let us know right now, and hotel app development will get started!
