Key Component of Online Travel Portal System

Travel businesses globally are using creative, economical ways to investigate technological approaches for marketing their products and services. As approximately 148.3 million online bookings are made annually, development of online travel portal is a hot topic among all the travel companies. 

If you’re thinking about developing a travel portal, there are important factors to consider before making your decision. 

I. What is an online travel portal software? 

An online travel portal software is a robust online booking system designed to cater to the diverse needs of the travel industry. This comprehensive web-based platform is specifically tailored for travel management companies, travel aggregators, B2B/B2C travel agencies, tour operators, and freelance travel agents. 

This software comes equipped with a variety of functions to enhance booking experience, such as:  

_ Efficient booking management 

_ Seamless travel itinerary planning 

_ Secure payment processing 

This user-friendly online travel portal software is thoughtfully designed to cater to the unique requirements of both travel business and leisure travelers, ensuring a hassle-free and personalized experience for all.

II. Essential features of online travel portal

1. Flight booking of online travel portal: domestic and international

Using an API, the online travel portal software can be connected to the particular flight reservation process. The API will gather data from the backend regarding online inventories or airline tickets and display the pertinent information in a graphical user interface (GUI) on the app’s frontend. To complete the reservation, the user is redirected to the associated payment gateway after selecting a result. 

How users work with online travel portal:  

Search: First, users input details about their flights, such as the departure and destination airports, departure date, and the number of passengers. After entering this information, they click on the “Search” button. The portal will display a list of flights that match their criteria. 

Book: Second, users review the available flights and select the one that best suits their needs. They then click on the “Book” button to proceed with the booking process. 

Email address: To confirm the booking, users are required to provide their email address. This is important because the portal will send them an email with the booking details for reference. 

Payment process: After entering their email address, users will be redirected to a secure payment gateway. Here, they can complete the purchase by clicking on the “Make Payment” button. The payment gateway ensures a safe and secure transaction process.

2. Hotel booking

Travel portals use their own inventory and specific APIs to search for “Hotel” and display the available options at the lowest tariffs. When a hotel is selected, the API redirects the user to the payment gateway for payment processing. 

3. Car booking

Like hotel booking, this car booking API searches for the best available options in the enter city from the inventory. After selecting a car, the API redirects the user to the payment gateway. 

4. Bus booking

The bus booking API displays the best possible options based on the customer’s search in a specific city. Once the user selects a bus, they will also be directed to the payment gateway. 

5. Best holiday packages

Online travel portal software is designed based on user needs. These packages are created using a CMS-driven system, and travel portals gather customer requirements through online form inquires.

6. Foreign exchange

Efficient travel portals include an admin module that displays updated foreign exchange rates to help users make informed purchase decisions. Credit card payments are processed using a payment gateway.

7. Incorporate SMS gateways

The SMS gateway API is used to send SMS notifications to end-users once their booking is confirmed or a PNR (Passenger Name Record) is created.

8. Agent accounts

Travel portals provide a multilayer admin console for travel agents. Agents can use the login facility to add funds to their accounts up to a certain limit. They can then book flight tickets or hotel deals using their deposit account. The admin console also allows agents to: 

_ Create sub-users 

_ Check booking analysis and reports 

_ Manage booking status 

_ Cancel and delete bookings using available APIs 

_ Check invoices, promotions and vouchers 

_ Create commission reports 

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III. Fundamental components of online travel portal 

1. Detailed business description

Customers are curious about your business, what your travel portal offers and what sets it apart from competitors. A detailed business description provides essential information about the services, benefits, and unique selling points of your portal to customers. 

2. Images with description

Including images with descriptions helps enhance the visual appeal of your online travel portal software and allows users to get a better understanding of the destinations, accommodations, and other travel-related offerings. Visual content can also be influential in attracting and engaging users.

3. Quality content

Quality content is crucial for providing valuable information to users. Information about destination guides, travel tips, and informative articles will help travelers make informed decisions about their travel plans. Well-written and relevant content can also improve your portal’s search engine visibility.

4. Contact information

Displaying contact information, such as a phone number, email address, or contact form, allows users to easily get in touch with your online travel portal for inquiries, bookings, or customer support. You can gain trust thanks to it, and it also provides a means for direct communication.

5. Customer testimonial

If you include testimonials from satisfied customers, it can allow potential users gain confidence in your travel portal’s services and encourages them to make bookings. Customer testimonials are valuable social proof that can build trust and credibility. 

6. Sitemap

To assist users in navigating your portal and finding needed information quickly and easily, your portal should have a sitemap – a structured list of all the pages on a website. It helps search engines understand your website’s structure and index its content more effectively.

7. Web address

A web address, also known as a domain name, is the unique address that users type into their web browsers to access the travel portal. In travel context, it serves as the online identity of the travel portal and makes it easily accessible to customers.  

As choosing a travel portal development company, you need to consider the following perspectives: 

8. Responsive website design

These days, customers use their mobile device to browse websites on it and book services. Hence, your website and app should provide excellent user experience and be convenient to navigate on a mobile. 

9. Search engine marketing (SEM)

This element ensures your site appears on the top of search engine results such as Google, Bing, … and others. Through sponsored and naturally occurring links on sites, a travel development company can boost its visibility. 

10. CTA buttons

You use your website as a tool for lead generation. That’s why it becomes essential place appropriate CTA buttons in relevant spaces of your online travel portal software. 

11. Content management

Unorganized content will negatively impact your company. Make concise, snappy information that is pertinent to the end users. To offer value, don’t forget to address the customer’s context. The look and feel of your travel website is improved by the addition of infographics, photos, and other visual content.

12. Special offers/Promotional deals

To increase visitors, your online travel portal software’s design must showcase the finest offers and bargains. When there are significant savings on airline tickets, a lot of customers would rather schedule their vacation. Some people choose to travel during the off-season to save money. To increase website traffic, a travel portal development business should create a customized plan for handling deals and including seasonal updates. 

IV. Why enterprises need to choose online travel portal?

1. Customized travel experiences

When it comes to millennials, the value of experience is the most important motivator. This generation spends a significant amount of time reading online reviews, comparing travel packages, and meticulously planning their itineraries. They are more likely to rely on recommendations from their friends or even unfamiliar individuals rather than being swayed by sponsored ads. 

They’re continuously seeking ways to steer clear of generic travel options. Also, they are eager to explore alternative and off-the-beaten-path adventures that allow them to create lasting memories.  

That’s why, whether they’re traveling for work or leisure, they nowadays are always looking to break free from their usual routines. They might skip a typical restaurant dinner to try out a local culinary gem or opt for a different mode of transportation just to get a taste of everyday life. 

More and more travelers from gen X, gen Y, and millennials are ditching packaged tours and seeking personalized trips that cater to their unique interests and hobbies. This means that travel companies need to think outside the box and offer something special. 

However, most of these travelers want to make sure they’re getting their money’s worth. They prefer to have their destinations carefully selected and vetted for quality before they even arrive. 

2. Consulting of travel agent business

Almost all travel agents now have access to a wealth of information that regular travelers don’t have. This gives them a unique perspective on travel. By analyzing tons of data from airlines and other travel sources, agents can provide travelers with valuable insights. 

Let’s look at an example. There’s an app-based company that tells its users the average wait times at different attractions in Walt Disney World. They can utilize this information to help users plan their visit more efficiently.  

As a travel agent, you can offer your clients advice on various travel-related topics. These data-driven insights can help tourists make better decisions about their travel plans, including which places to visit and the best hotels to stay at during their vacation. However, there are a couple of challenges for travel agents. 

First, most agents focus on helping travelers going from their city to other parts of the country or the world. It’s difficult for agents to keep track of information from all over the globe. Second, travel agencies have a lot of local information that is not relevant to most of their clients. That’s why many modern travel agencies use technology to gather information from different sources worldwide. 

This enables agents to provide their clients with specific advice about destinations and travel plans. 

Furthermore, travel agency alliances have proven to be an effective way to stay competitive. More and more travel agencies are teaming up with colleagues from other countries to share resources and serve their clients better. For example, a Chicago-based agency might partner with agents in Mexico City, Tokyo, or Beijing.  

Cheap domestic flights and trains are typically unavailable to agents from foreign countries or regions in these destinations. It might be more beneficial to have a local partner make bookings for you.  

Data sharing is another advantage of this collaboration. By consolidating data from hundreds of agents, these organizations can gain valuable insights that will help agents in their work.

3. Networking of B2B travel portal

To expand your reach and improve your services, it’s important to establish connections with travel agents from different countries all over the world. You may consider partnering with an outsourcing company to assist you in this process. Implementing a B2B online travel portal software can enable you to share real-time information with your industry colleagues. 

Explore how to choose the right software outsourcing partner here

What’s more, collaborating with local partners allows you to offer customized services to your customers. By pooling data with them, you can gain valuable insights and boost your revenue. As a proactive travel agent, it’s crucial to take the initiative and leverage technology to your advantage. 

To create a new software, you can hire specialized travel portal development company in Vietnam or other countries which are renowned for IT outsourcing service. They will help you in providing travelers with the most up-to-date and value-added services. Thanks to this, you can stay competitive in the expanding travel agency business. It’s important to keep in mind the competition from online travel agencies (OTAs) and start-ups. Being proactive is key to maintaining an edge in the industry.

4. Add value in online travel portal software

The business model of a travel agent has been to focus on channels that haven’t been affected by new technology in the past 30 years.  

When airline commissions disappeared, agents started focusing on taxi and hotel bookings, and when those businesses were impacted, they shifted to package tours. 

One of the best ways to survive in the industry is to reinvent your business model and create value. 

Regular travelers face various challenges, such as choosing the right hotel, getting internet access in a foreign country, converting currency, and visiting tourist attractions during busy seasons. 

While online startups exist to address these difficulties, most travelers don’t realize the need for these services until it’s too late. 

On the other hand, a travel agency can provide all these services in one place. Clients who purchase a package that includes these value-added services are more likely to continue doing business with us and develop a long-term relationship. 

Travel agents can also consider expanding their offerings to include unique and undiscovered holiday destinations that are currently unavailable. The goal is to provide value that travelers can’t find from standard online travel agencies and then sell it. 

However, the challenge is that if anything has commercial potential, competitors will enter the market. 

Therefore, adding new value to your service should be an ongoing effort. 

5. Create online travel marketplaces

The possibility of a travel marketplace in an e-commerce-driven world is now not implausible. Companies in the travel industry are already creating their own marketplace for online travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and other travel-related businesses. 

This new way of doing business is expected to change how transactions are done, which could be a problem for vendors who have their own ways of doing things, because the marketplace owner will have complete control over customer information. 

On the other hand, there are also other advancements happening, like being able to make payments through social media platforms and book trips using voice commands on devices. These could become alternative ways to make transactions soon.

If you want to explore how to create travel app like Airbnb and Hopper, read here

V. Why need to work with Adamo’s travel portal development services 

Adamo is a trusted software development company specializing in creating customized online travel portal solutions for the retail industry. When you choose us, you can expect: 

_ Agile methodology: We take a collaborative approach to ensure that your specific needs are met throughout the development process. 

_ Proven expertise: Our skilled developers possess extensive knowledge in travel software development, ensuring that your portal is built to the highest standards. 

_ Competitive pricing: We offer cost-effective solutions that are tailored to your budget, without compromising on quality. 

_ Long-term support and maintenance: We provide ongoing support and maintenance services to ensure that your online travel system remains up-to-date and operates smoothly. 

With our comprehensive range of services, we are committed to delivering a top-notch online travel portal that meets your unique requirements.