Building an Online Hotel Booking App Like Agoda :
A Complete Guide
It is given that the world that we are living in is tremendously digitally driven, where every dimension of our life is influenced by the virtual world and technology. In this forte, the travel and hospitality industry does not remain untouched. With the skyrocketing dependency on smartphones, travelers find it highly convenient to book their accommodation on the go through user-friendly applications. This swelling market has opened doors for several hotel booking applications and the need for proficient hotel booking app development companies as well. In this market Agoda has rose to fame for its salient features and offerings for travelers, making it an absolute favorite when it comes to browsing and booking accommodations conveniently. While this market is booming, several other key players shall also try to leverage this and upscale their brand. But how does it all come around?
What goes behind developing such applications?
How much they cost?
And how can one create an app like Agoda?
If these are the questions, you are asking yourself, then we have got all the answers for you, so let’s go!
What is the Agoda App? : The Agoda Way
Agoda is one of the leading online travel agencies (OTA), primarily catering to the Asia-Pacific region. Based in Singapore, the Agoda company is a meta-search for hotels, vacation rentals, flights, and other travel accommodations and services. Through their mobile app, they let travelers book everything related to their endeavor from stay to mode of travel, etc on the go, easily and conveniently.
Key features of the Agoda App:
- Expansive and extensive property listing: browse through millions of hotels, resorts, apartments, villas, and other vacation rentals worldwide.
- User-friendly interface: intuitive design that makes it helpful for users to search, filter, and book their reservations.
- Numerous deals and discounts: exclusive mobile-app-only deals, promotions, and discounts for users.
- Customer testimonials: verified reviews from previous guests of a property so that other people can also make an informed decision.
- Secured booking process: safe and secured payment gateways, guaranteeing user data is protected.
- 24/7 customer helpdesk: round-the-clock support for users to change reservations, make inquiries, cancellations etc.
- Booking & Reservation management: users can easily manage their reservations and view details, make changes, or cancel accordingly.
- Multi-currency and multilingual support: the Agoda app can successfully cater to the global audience as it supports currencies of several countries and also provides support in multiple languages.
- Loyalty program: through the Agoda VIP program, users can also access to more discounts and perks on their reservations.
- Price alerts: the app also notifies users about price drops on their desired accommodations.
Hence the Agoda app is a pioneer in providing people the joy of travel and booking their accommodations and related travel services in the most hassle-free manner. In addition to that it is a great option for travelers to gain local insights, as the app also provides recommendations and information based on the local area. The Agoda app also provides personalized experiences to its users through sharing suggestions based on their past reservations and preferences. The application is available on both iOS and Google app stores to cater even wider berth of audience.
All impressed by the Agoda app development?
Great. Now let’s see how you can do it too.
Decoding a Hotel Booking App
A hotel booking app is much more than just another platform for users to explore, compare, and reserve their accommodations. It must be able to serve all the needs of travelers, from browsing nearby hotels, real-time availability, integrated and secured payment gateway, to customer and support and functionalities.
Agoda App – What is the cost of making a hotel booking application like Agoda?
The cost of developing such a comprehensive and extensive application is dedicated to several key aspects such as:
1. App features:
It goes unsaid that the extent of complexity of the features is directly proportional to more cost as advanced functionalities like real-time availability, integration of secured payment pathway, 24/7 chat support, and integration of the loyalty programs, etc add significantly to the cost.
2. Third-party APIs and integration:
Integrating third-party APIs like secured payment gateways, mapping services and more adds directly to the development cost.
3. Security and compliance:
One has to incorporate robust security measures for protecting user data and compliance with the regulations of the regions, the app is catering to for example Agoda UAE. which then also swells the developmental cost.
4. App size:
It goes rather given that the more features and functionalities are incorporated into the app, the larger and more complex it becomes which is directly proportional to increasing cost.
5. Platform and devices:
If the application is being developed for multiple platforms, i.e. both Android and iOS, then that will add up to the development cost as well, as two different but similarly comprehensive variants of the app will have to be developed for the two different environments and platform requirements.
6. Quality assurance and testing:
Thorough testing helps ensure that the application remains bug-free, hence adding to the developmental cost again.
7. Development team:
The experience, proficiency, and location of the development team or mobile app development company shall also impact the overall cost of the application.
8. Post-app release support and maintenance:
The ongoing maintenance of the application and post-deployment support is an additional cost but it is also essential for the longevity and security of the application, which adds to the development cost.
How can you reduce the development cost?
Though the aforementioned factors play a vital role in determining the overall development cost, the following strategies shall help you to optimize the cost of the hotel booking app development:
- Start with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test the inherently core features before investing in more advanced functionalities.
- Cross-platform development: it costs comparatively less than native development.
- Outsource development: consider outsourcing the development of the hotel booking app to regions where you find development expertise at a fair cost.
- Simplified UI/UX: rather than going over the top with the design, stay aligned with a clean and intuitive design to minimize the design cost, in addition to the development cost.
- Limit third-party integrations: restrict integrations to only the essential ones so that you do not incur unnecessary costs.
- Prototyping the app: creating interactive prototypes helps you validate the ideas and features before committing and investing in full-fledged development efforts.
- Continual refinement and update: stay aligned with user feedback and compliances to avoid additional and unnecessary maintenance costs.
Bottomline
The scope of hotel booking applications like Agoda is multifaceted in which the cost of developing such an application depends on several dynamics like features and functionalities, integrations, the expertise of the development team, etc. Carefully understanding these factors and adeptly strategizing will help you to endeavor on this terrain successfully in which you can optimize the cost and render high user value and experience.
In this frontier, let Nuox be your voyager to compass and navigate you through the landscape of hotel booking applications and platforms. If you are looking for an expert and credible team of insanely talented minds that can help you leverage this market, then we are the leading mobile app development company in the UAE. Connect with us and let us build a full-proof plan and then a mobile app for your business.
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