You don’t need to be a specialist in marketing to understand that for the promotion of your travel agency in today’s tech-savvy world you need more than just a mobile website. According to a number of consumer researches, mobile transactions are becoming mainstream in the travel industry, so to really grab the attention of the mobile generation that is constantly on the move, mobile app is the first thing to consider.
Nowadays there are lots of apps available to travel agencies. The choice of the correct app for your travel agency will depend on many factors, but first and foremost, it’s essential to make sure that app will be something useful for your target customer base. If it’s not something people need, they won’t be interested in your app, but if they are, you will see great results. An app that is poorly planned and managed, not solicited, can dampen your spirit and affect your business negatively. So, to have a decent high-quality soft complying with your needs, it’s a good idea to seek advice from professional developers prior to the creation of the app.
Your clients will definitely appreciate your helpful and functional mobile app. With it in their pocket they won’t need to carry city maps, travel guides or phrasebooks, all this information will be provided by one handy app. Thus, even in a foreign country far from your travel agency, your clients will always feel that they are given every support by your firm.
Here are some useful ideas aimed to help you create an efficient app and therefore, improve your customer loyalty, increase your revenues and engage new clients with your business. Feel free to use these ideas and afterwards, reap the benefits.
1. Mobile app is not the same as your website
If your mobile is just an extension of your website, it would be of interest to only your current customers. But if you can come up with something really creative, that will attract the general public and raise your brand awareness allowing to put your brand name in front of them.
Anyway, you can link the app to your app’s page on your website, iTunes, or Google Play. Also use call-to-action wording such as “Download our mobile app today”.
To inspire you to great ideas here is an example of useful and branded app called Home Care mobile app. Home Care mobile app provides information about all UK registered home care and nursing agencies, local authorities and the major care associations and suppliers. Or an app that helps travel agencies accessing millions of living rooms.
2. Which country matches you best?
Do you feel confused choosing the next place to visit? Is it usually hard for you to make up your mind among the variety of options? The app will advise you on best destinations that will meet all your needs. You enter most crucial data about the type of your preferred activities, accommodation, preferred climate, presence of historical monuments or art galleries, etc., and the app finds the best match to your expectations.
As an additional bonus, clients will be able to read general facts about geographical location, population, climate, language, as well as have at hand a phrasebook of local language.
The app will be really helpful in viewing all possible tourist destinations all over the world. It will provide its users with information about current events happening,for instance in Egypt, Ukraine, Cyprus, etc. and describe main cultural traditions, so that your customer could avoid awkward situations and not feel like a black sheep. A vivid example of such an app is Britain’s Finest mobile app that provides information about all Britain hotels, museums, art galleries, historic houses, gardens, spas, golf courses, restaurants, and pubs.
3. Weather forecast for days of client’s holiday
To make your app really useful, you may add into the app a number of valuable functions connected with weather forecast. Travelers will be grateful to know if the weather is cool enough to go sightseeing or hot enough to rest on the beach. They can enter a few cities nearby, and the app will choose the best option to visit at any particular day on the basis of the most favorable weather over there. The app can also include river/lake or sea/ocean temperatures, as well as contain Temperature converter (°C to °F, °F to °C).
4. Online suitcase packer
The possibility to pack your customers’ suitcases for their vacations will be highly appreciated especially by those who are constantly leaving things at home. The app will help your clients not forget about useful articles. Having entered the city and period of your stay, the app will estimate all necessary and essential things to be taken to this particular place at the given time period. A person can as well enter things that have already been packed, and the app will tell him which items among them are extra, without which he can do pretty well and which ones still need to be packed.
5. City guide
If your mobile app takes a wide variety of useful, informative and interactive features, it can make a useful companion for any trip to any city your clients visit. While being on the go travelers use their mobile devices to get all sort of information, and first of all how to get from one place to another and where to stay. In this regard, your app will become a real asset to your travel agency, since it will improve your customer satisfaction and increase revenues offering travel consumers powerful hotel and transport tools. Due to Torshavn City App, tourists now can easily move around the capital city of Faroe Islands.
With such tools as a Taxi fare calculator and Public transport finder your customers’ stay in an unfamiliar city will be much more enjoyable. It can also contain calendars for concerts, shows and other local events, as well as news updates and information about banks, hospitals, malls, embassies, etc. Moreover, it’s a worthy idea to include mobile search and a booking option for hotels and restaurants alongside with their pictures, location on the city map, prices and clients ratings. Apart from that you can elevate your customer satisfaction by including into your app city maps with ready routes to tourist attractions.
6. Shopping guide
For those who can’t imagine travelling without shopping, an app with information about special offers and discounts will be precious indeed. People who have your mobile app on their phones will receive short notifications and messages about discounts or new arrivals in the stores of the city they are currently in. What’s more, in your clients’ hands such app will be the best assistant in coordinating expenses. This app can provide an opportunity to compare prices in different stores, search for bargains, be aware of all sales, and new arrivals in the stores of your clients’ choice. It also seems reasonable to include Currency converter into the app. Interesting idea was realized in Recipe cost calculator (RCC) mobile app where apart from shopping list there is a possibility to calculate the cost of recipes and food preparation.
7. Payment system integration
If your app is integrated with payment systems, your clients get a possibility to pay for goods and services via their mobile phones instead of paying with cash, credit cards or checks. It seems like there is no need expanding on how comfortable it is to make on-line purchases when you are on the go. You can also add an additional function to provide your tourists with all information about products by scanning barcodes and QR codes using different languages like in SENTRON Knowledge mobile app.
8. Customer service
Be in touch with your clients on their travel routes in order to inform them on-the-spot about any crucial matters concerning their trips, such as arrival and departure gates changes, flight status or delays. For that purpose reference calls can be added: if a customer still has questions, he can call employees of your travel agency just by tapping the screen of his phone. Reciprocal dialogue with your client is vital, so use your app to establish it. With this customer-service function included, you will be able to promptly answer clients’ questions, settle their urgent issues and in general it will facilitate and improve your communication with clients.
9. Gifts and Souvenirs guide
Do you remember the feeling of uncertainty and confusion while choosing a souvenir to bring back home from your tourist destination to your Mom or a friend? When you look at all these shelves loaded with hundreds of different interesting items and have no idea which one is “the most local one”or which one is more suitable for a particular person? It happens almost every time we are abroad.
So, to find solution to the problem it is a brilliant idea to place gifts and souvenirs guide right in the pocket of your clients. With its help your clients will be able to find all nearby gift and souvenir shops, compare prices, find best deals and what’s more, read description about every souvenir displayed: its origin, symbolic nature, legends, materials it’s made of, etc. The app will show your authentic care about your client, which will increase his confidence in your services and in its turn raise additional revenues for your firm. Interesting solution was found by GoMo company that released a wine guide for tourists named Wine PhD.
10. Travelling with kids
It makes your trip a tad more complicated, if you travel with kids, so it will be very helpful to know where you can find child and family friendly places, such as stores, cafes for children, toy shops, amusement parks, water parks and other family entertainment centers. With this function your app will ensure joyful, colorful moments both for parents and kids and will make your customers’ stay in new cities easy and unforgettable. And it will contribute to the reputation of your travel agency as a caring company and be regarded as one of your greatest merits.
Summarizing the above, it’s worth saying that using an app is a great example of how a little creativity can go a long way. As soon as your client is provided with a handy mobile app combining lots of useful functions, his holidays will go smoothly and enjoyable, which will definitely increase his loyalty to your travel agency and then by word of mouth attract new customers and raise additional revenues.
Industries and Technology Areas:
Industries: travel
Technology Areas: mobile application development, iOS, iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, smartphone
