I feel strongly travel apps need to take a page out of the social media app handbook and publish lite versions. (also applies to apps outside of travel).
- Everybody does not have a high-end smartphone with a fast processor and ample storage options. Can I book travel, lodging, or car rentals with greater emphasis on function rather than design? If people can use Facebook Lite and TikTok lite, they can use a lite version of a travel app. The booking process is actually faster (ahem potentially higher completion rates) than their traditional counterparts.
- Many emerging market travelers have ‘night bandwidth’ with a separate allocation of data that starts at midnight and ends at 4 am — does your app cater to or at very least give travelers this option? I’m looking at you Microsoft, with your 500 MB to 1 GB Xbox and Win11 updates. Or Samsung with your 1 GB OS version upgrades.
- Not everybody can dial 1-800 numbers or afford to dial an international number. I would argue travelers shouldn’t be required to dial long distance to get support given the ease of VOIP numbers (many with unlimited inbound calling) that forward to existing phone numbers. If you specialize in inbound from Moscow to Turkey, get a number in both countries and avoid forcing a traveler to dial an international contact method.
- Every country in the world does not have fast Internet bandwidth or unlimited data; many apps implicitly require them. If you live in South Korea or work at Google, you have no idea what slow bandwidth is ;). Many parts of the world have bandwidth and speed challenges you need to consider and workaround.
- Many apps require you to be online with no offline support. I’m referring to retrieving itinerary information, frequently asked questions, or even the phone number of the airline(s) I booked. You get the picture. Test whether offline purchases convert for non-capacity constrained travel products – say bus tickets for a route that never sells out. Or excursions where there’s no practical limit to attendance.
- Not everybody has a credit card, yet many travel companies exclusively require them. Middle East travelers like to pay cash for travel – do you support cash deposits? Do you support mPesa in Kenya? If not at a travel agency then perhaps via a retail partner like supermarkets where many travel bookings are completed in emerging markets?
- Does your app support older Android OS versions (I suspect via a different app than your main one)? Look at the statistics on Android OS version deployments, and I’ll guess you overestimate the % of people on the latest OS version(s).
- Do you support local languages? Machine translation via Google Translate API or DeepL has come a long way. Not everybody in the world speaks English 😉
It’s easy to have a rooted Western mentality — I also fell into this trap – when deploying travel services and travel apps, yet I believe this excludes large segments of the booking public.
I fully understand this requires local knowledge, language localization, much more profound and different insights onto what travelers want, more extensive traveler verification and anti-fraud measures, and integration complexity (to put it mildly).
I posit there’s a potentially lucrative niche for travelers — especially for travel products like bus tickets, local tours, and other non-capacity restricted travel products – that are often forgotten by traditional apps.
