Running a travel agency in 2023 is a challenging task. With millions of tourists constantly trying to find the best deals while booking flights, hotels, and tour guides, it’s a bit hectic to gain exposure to your business.
Of course, if you still rely on conventional marketing tools and don’t have an online presence, things are only going to get more and more challenging.
We live in a digital era and an effective online presence is crucial in building a successful travel agency. Since almost every tourist uses the Internet to plan a vacation, your travel agency must have an online presence to cater to users’ varying requirements.
But, how to build a travel website from scratch? Should you hire a dedicated website development company or simply use one of the ready-to-use website builders to get the job done? How much would it cost to set up a full-scale website for your travel agency?
To help you answer these queries, we have put together a comprehensive guide on how to construct a website for your travel/adventure company.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
Start by Identifying Your Business Niche
A travel agency can fall under multiple categories. For instance, you might follow the aggregator model and allow travelers to find different hotels, flights, vacation packages, etc.
Similarly, you might also own a custom travel brand and let customers book adventure activities in your locality. Regardless of the services you offer, it’s important to identify your business niche right in the beginning.
It’ll help you evaluate the most suitable website architecture and necessary features that’ll make it easier to deliver an exceptional user experience.
Having a clear vision of what you want to offer will also help you remove unnecessary clutter from the website and keep the navigation clear & concise.
Choose the Right Set of Features
After you’ve successfully evaluated the business niche, the next stage in travel website development is to identify the features you want to integrate.
Keep in mind that the features you choose will directly impact user engagement. That’s why it’s crucial to have all the necessary functionalities so that you don’t have to lose any valuable customers. Here are some of the key features that’ll help you enhance the functionality of your travel website.
1. Search Filter
Having filtered search options directly impacts searchers’ decision-making process. The more filters customers can apply while looking for a flight or accommodation, the easier it’ll be for them to make the right decision.
All the search filters should be clearly visible on your website so that customers can instantly apply them and narrow down the results to the most suitable options.
2. High-Quality Images
Whether you’re planning to build an aggregator platform or simple adventure activities booking website, make sure to upload multiple high-quality images. Why? Because these pictures will allow you to build brand authority and captivate first-time visitors effortlessly.
The best way to build brand authority is to use original pictures. For instance, if you are planning to build a hotel booking website, make sure to get in touch with the property owners and ask them to share original photos of their properties.
This will result in better transparency and customers will be able to take virtual tours of multiple properties before making the final decisions.
3. Add Customer Reviews and Testimonials
When it comes to booking a hotel room in a random city, the majority of customers prefer going through the previous reviews to evaluate its condition.
Having enough customer reviews for listed properties, adventure activities, and tour packages will ensure that customers get the best deals for their money.
After each booking, make sure to notify customers to leave a review. Moreover, if you are building a website for your own travel agency, it’s also necessary to respond to these customer reviews, even if they aren’t majorly in your favor. Responding to customer feedback will help you establish brand authority, resulting in better customer retention.
4. Pricing
When users book a hotel or search for a flight, they want to know the exact price of the package.
Any hidden charges of miscellaneous costs that get added up during the final checkout will only make your customers furious and make them choose another platform to complete the bookings.
So, if you don’t want to lose any valuable customers, it’ll be necessary to be clear about the pricing. Along with the basic package price, make sure to display other charges, be it taxes for foreign travelers or any other miscellaneous charges.
5. Call-to-Actions (CTAs)
Call-to-Actions are a necessary component of any website as they convert website visitors into potential customers. The more optimized CTAs you add to your website, the easier it’ll get to drive better conversions.
Keep in mind that while having multiple CTAs can increase your chances of converting more customers, they can also make your web pages more cluttered. To avoid this scenario, be extra cautious about the CTA placements.
Try to experiment with different CTA positions to identify user patterns and make the right decisions accordingly.
Hire a Website Development Partner
If you want to develop a feature-packed website for your travel agency, it would be important to hire a professional website development partner. Of course, you can choose one of the ready-to-use website builders, but these platforms lack advanced customizations and will restrict you from delivering a personalized user experience.
A professional development partner like NetSpark Solutions, on the other hand, has the extensive technical expertise and utilized modern-day tech stack to build fully functional websites for their clients.
This will ensure that you can keep the customers engaged and prevent unexpected downtime. Working with professional developers also opens up room for better customization, which means you can easily launch a fully personalized website for your travel agency.
How Much Does it Cost to Develop a Website for a Travel Agency?
The cost to build a website for a travel agency depends on multiple factors. That’s why there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question.
The factors influencing the development cost of a website for a travel agency may include the features you want to integrate, the development team you hire, your preferred tech stack, and third-party API integrations.
All these factors will come together to calculate the final development cost of your website. Ideally, however, it might cost you anywhere between $15,000 to $40,000 to construct a full-scale website for your travel business from the ground up.
Conclusion
So, that completes our guide on how to develop a website for a travel/adventure company. It’s worth pointing out that building a website for a travel business is a time-consuming and technically challenging task.
So, make sure to hire an experienced website development company so that you can launch a feature-packed website for your business. At NetSpark Solutions, we offer end-to-end website development services for different industries including travel and tourism. So, share your website objectives with our team and we’ll get back to you with a custom development plan for the journey ahead accordingly.
