Introduction

The emergence of mobile apps has triggered a revolution in the hotel industry. Today, anybody can book hotel rooms, flights, vehicles, restaurants, and other services using a travel app with only a few touches. Like the entire hospitality industry, the world accommodation market came under significant disturbances with the rise of the COVID-19. Before the pandemic, the use of mobile booking apps to reserve travel accommodation was trending upward, and in 2022, it is set to resume the swift lift up.

Travel apps development trends

Even though the market dropped about 12% due to the pandemic, fundamental factors prompt a quick recovery. As modern tourists typically have smartphones in their pockets, mobile app development gives a fantastic chance for hotel operators to provide easy access to their services. Booking apps are used by over 40% of travelers in the US and 61% in Europe to reserve a stay. 65% of travelers use a hotel app to book accommodation for the same day. At the end of 2021, the global online booking market was valued at $782 million and is expected to grow 12.2% annually by 2028.

Anybody who keeps an eye on hotel technology solutions tendencies would confirm a great potential in travel apps development. Though we cannot foresee what will happen in the future, there are several clear trends in the industry.

• Digitalization focused on the guest experience. COVID-19 forced many hotels to go paperless, introducing mobile check-ins, keyless entries, and online concierge services. People are offered to use mobile travel apps that facilitate distance communication. Even given the decreasing threat of COVID-19, many guests still prefer contactless engagement.
• Mobile dominance. Hotel apps development has become the first priority for business owners. Additionally, there is a need to have a website with simple booking systems, preferably supporting search and booking by voice. For instance, the World of Hyatt app enables users to set room preferences, select check-in times, pick cleaning options and act as a digital key. Travel apps development will allow us to replace paper documents entirely in the future.
• Smart rooms and other systems. Considering how high hotel apps engineering is reaching so far, users might also begin to expect options such as voice control, facial recognition for room access and security, intelligent controls for heating and air conditioning, and smart mirrors with the information feed. This trend comes with smart data-gathering, enabling hotel owners to gather and analyze tons of information.
• Privacy and cybersecurity. Similar to other valuable assets, hotels are a goal for hackers. Currently, only a fraction of hotel operators are compliant with data security best practices, and it means that most of them are potential targets for disasters waiting to happen. Thus, hotels are forced to get smart about safety. It comes to a wide range of measures: from building multilayer security to payment systems protection.

Hotel booking apps (iPad, iPhone, Android)

Numerous hotel booking apps bring the world to anyone’s reach and make the process of finding a stay extremely simple. Mobile exclusive deals facilitate searching for the perfect accommodation anywhere, anytime. Let’s go over the most popular travel apps that help users find places by all possible criteria: price, star rating, location, etc.

• Booking.com. With over 1.5 million properties worldwide, Booking.com makes it easy to manage reservations wherever you are. It facilitates hotel bookings and reserving anything from apartments and vacation houses to treehouses and even igloos. Users can search and sort accommodation by attraction, landmark, or price in a few touches. Booking.com provides customer support in over 40 languages for an excellent experience.
• Hotels.com. This app allows for planning, booking, and managing stays when away from home. It offers the most straightforward, fastest, and most secure process to book a hotel at the last minute. If you have reserved ten nights from the app, it will make your 11th-night stay accessible as a reward.
• Airbnb. It is an online marketplace for renting property to travelers. However, it comes with tons of different experiences offered by diverse and independent property owners. Airbnb does not own the properties, and it only provides a platform allowing people to rent out their apartments to guests. The apartments and their prices are collected via the Airbnb app. The idea itself is so exciting that it triggers the development of similar travel apps. Currently, the Airbnb alternatives are represented by Vrbo, TurnKey, Flipkey, etc.
• One:Night. One:Night is one of the top new hotel booking apps. It allows you to make last-minute reservations at the lowest rates. It offers a feature where the app displays insider tips to give you a fantastic experience in the hotel and the city. Insider tips prompt best wall art around the corner, a museum to visit, a local band concert, and so on.

To summarize

As the competition gets tougher, hotel owners cannot ignore mobile apps development anymore. Given the digital shift caused by the pandemic, the hospitality industry is almost wholly moving to smartphones: everything is done online. There are reasons to be excited for everyone: users get the best experience, hotel operators and property owners – tremendous opportunities.