How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Travel App?

The travel industry saw a massive change after the COVID-19 global pandemic. With the increasing digitalization in almost every industry, travel companies also realized the importance of digital transformation. Thus, many of them started to invest heavily in travel app development.However, many emerging travel businesses don’t have much idea about the cost to develop a travel app. Plus, they also don’t have any experience in mobile app development. If you are one of them, then keep reading because we are going to help you learn about travel mobile app development costs.

Facts About the Travel App Industry 

• The global travel app market had an estimated value of $352.2 billion in 2021 
• It is expected that this lucrative industry might touch $1,835.6 billion by 2031
• The Asian subcontinent remains the largest market for travel 
• You will be amazed to know that around 80% of international tourists and travelers depend on some sort of travel app. (Source: Travelport Digital)

What is Travel App Development?

Travel app development is the process of developing mobile and web apps for traveling companies and organizations. Furthermore, the main intent is to provide convenience and information to travelers and tourists. The development process might be complicated depending on the app type and chosen platform. 

To have a clear idea about the travel mobile app development cost, we know about the types of travel apps. 

Different Types of Travel Apps

Each travel company develops travel apps for a unique use case that serves a particular userbase. In fact, each travel might serve a specific purpose such as tourist place locating, flight & hotel booking, car rental apps, and more. Each of these apps will have a set of features and also a different development approach.

These two factors could drastically affect the travel mobile app development cost. These are the prominent travel types in the international travel & tourism industry: 

1. Travel Planning Apps 

These apps are very helpful for tourists and travelers to plan their holidays or journeys. Furthermore, they can easily draft their itineraries, browse locations, and learn information by using these apps. Travel Planning apps are often resource-heavy and consist of tons of digital information. 

2. Hotel Booking Apps 

These apps are very useful for tourists who want to book their accommodation in advance. In fact, hotel chains also greatly benefit by their listing their accommodation on these travel apps. These apps have booking and payment facilities, thus you might need assistance during the travel app development process. Ultimately, it is a lucrative digital transformation option for hotel businesses. 

3. Accommodation Booking Apps 

These apps are very similar to hotel booking apps. However, instead of booking hotels, the users book guest houses, rental homes, resorts, etc. Furthermore, property owners can get an additional source of income by listing their properties on these apps. 

4. Flight Booking Apps 

Travelers often use these apps for discovering and booking flights. They give good convenience of easy booking and additional information about the availability. Complex travel app developmentis often the reason behind the success of these apps. 

5. Travel Guide Apps 

These guide apps provide complete information about various holiday destinations across the world. Tourists often use these apps to learn about the history, cultural significance, and living conditions of their destination. Furthermore, they are very informative and help tourists to plan their trips in advance. 

6. City Tour Apps 

These apps are mostly used when a tourist visits a particular city. City Tour apps provide complete tutorials about famous places, public transport, cultural activities, and other important things to survive in the city. User loves these apps as they resolve their urgent needs in the city. 

7. Navigation App

Although these apps don’t fall under the category of navigation apps, they do have some features that help tourists and travelers in an entirely new location. In fact, users prefer these locations to get step-by-step navigational guidance to reach a particular location. Google Maps and Sygic are some good examples of these types of navigation apps.

Critical Factors That Might Affect the Travel App Development Cost 

There are plenty of micro factors that might influence the cost of travel mobile app development. A lot of these factors also depend on the current market and industry trends. However, these are some of the most prominent factors that could determine the development cost;

1. Chosen Platform 

The choice of platform to develop your travel can significantly impact the development costs. Both Android and iOS are the dominant platforms in the smartphone industry. However, both platforms serve different purposes and different target audiences. Android app development is more expensive since they are a big variety of Android devices. 

2. The complexity of Your App

Any travel app would have a different level of complexity and functionalities. Thus, a travel app with booking, payment, and map integration would be more expensive to develop. These apps might also have high-level API integrations.  

3. Type of Mobile App 

The type of your travel can also determine the development cost. It takes different efforts and time to develop native and cross-platform apps. Above all, Native app development might provide a superior app experience, but developing cross-platform is a lot more affordable. 

4. The Feature List 

A travel app consists of multiple features that provide convenience to the users. Working with reliable travel app development companies can help you determine the most important features for your travel app. In fact, they can help you optimize the development cost and a good sum of money. The more features your travel app it becomes more complex and expensive to develop the app. These are some most important features that should consider during travel mobile app development; 

• Travel Planner
• Travel Journal
• Maps and Navigation
• Recommendations and Reviews
• Local Area Information
• Integrated Translation Facility
• Weather Forecast
• Location finding
• Destination finding
• Geo-Tracking Services
• In-App Language Translator
• Currency Rate Converter
• Integrated Social Feed
  

5. Integrating the Right API(s)

APIs play an important role in determining the functionality and user experience of your travel app. In fact, the developers have to work extensively during the travel app development process to implement the right APIs. These APIs are very important in integrating features like payment gateways, maps, weather reporting, etc. In fact, they function as a bridge between the frontend and backend of your mobile app. Without using APIs, it is hard to make your travel app unique and feature-rich. 

6. The Travel App Development Company 

It is very challenging to develop a travel app on your own. In fact, the travel app development process is very complex and consists of a lot of challenges. Thus, it would be advisable to hire a  travel app development company for your project. 

There are tons of travel app development companies in the market these days. However, hiring the best mobile app development would cost you somewhere between $25-$40 per hour (if you choose the hourly model). 

Choosing an Indian mobile app development company can help you save expenses in the development process. For this reason, you can collaborate with MobileCoderz to get started with travel app development and develop effective mobile apps. 

Cost of Travel App Development 

As you have understood the various factors and features of developing a travel app, it would be easy to understand the breakdown of travel app development costs. 

The cost of developing a travel app falls somewhere between $20,000 to $50,000. However, this is only an estimated figure since there are a lot of additional factors that can affect the total cost. It would be best if you consult the best mobile app development company and share your project details to get an accurate estimate. Ultimately, they would be giving you a fair estimation depending on your project requirements and app complexity. 

Time Required For Travel Mobile App Development 

Again, there are a lot of factors that might determine the exact time necessary for developing a travel app. However, it usually takes around 512 hours (approx) to develop a functional travel app. 

There are different travel apps with different levels of complexity which can stretch the development time up to even 2 months. Furthermore, the development speed also depends on the development methodology such as Scrum, Agile, Waterfall, or RAD. Above all the Agile methodology is considered to be the most effective methodology for developing mobile apps. 

Summing Up 

The total cost of travel app development could be a vast topic because it can be influenced by tons of additional factors. The team you choose, the development approach, your own inputs, and the market can also determine the final cost. However, when you choose the right travel app development company, you can ensure that the development process is cost-effective and stays under your budget. Do you have a travel app idea in your mind?

Contact us to get the best quotation for your travel app development idea.