Looking Inside Top Online Travel Experience Portals – Business, Revenue Model & Site Features

How to make your online travel marketplace

Travel planning has always been a hassle for travelers, who often travel without knowing much about local attractions. The fact of the matter is that people travel for leisure and want to experience the places to the fullest.

But most of the times they fail to gather much information about the place they want to visit, which makes the overall experience dull. However, with the startup ecosystem taking cognizance of this sector and the problems associated with it, this sector has become one of the most lucrative areas for entrepreneurs. Let us look at some of the key business models for travel planning and booking marketplace.

Business and revenue model of an online travel marketplace

The main aim of such a marketplace revolves around connecting travelers with locals and providing the former with crucial information about their intended trip.

Such marketplaces can generate revenue via several options. Either they can change a commission from booking that happen on their website, or they can add premium services to their websites like the custom itinerary. Let us now take a look at key features required in an online travel business.

Key features necessary in a Travel activity marketplace

The most crucial aspect of any website in the current times is its user-friendly interface.  This means that the website should not clutter itself with hoards of information to make it difficult for users to find relevant information. When going shopping for a travel activity marketplace builder, ensure that following features are included:

Top navigation – One has to keep in mind top navigation is the one place from where users can browse different pages of the website. Make sure the website builder you choose has a nicely designed top navigation with the option to add sub menu.

Search – Other than navigation, search becomes a key entity when it comes to finding relevant pages and information. A search feature must be provided where users can easily find activities and places to visit. There must also be an option of autosuggestion as the user types.

Filters – There ought to be filter functionality on the listing page, which helps users in finding relevant results. Rather than going through several listing, users can easily streamline the results.

Reviews – For travel-based websites, reviews are necessary. Therefore, there must be an option where users can submit their reviews about a place or destination, making it easy for others to make an informed decision.

Making Reservation – One of the revenue models of such websites comes from making a reservation directly within the website. This is why it is a must for adventure activity marketplace builder to have such a provision where travelers can easily make a reservation beforehand.

List an experience – A travel and the activity-planning website is incomplete without the option where travelers can share their experience and itineraries with others.

Other than hotel booking website, the activity-planning website has huge growth prospects in the online travel business. If you are planning to launch such a website then it is critical for you to keep the above-mentioned features in mind. Other than that, you can also hire some experienced designers and developers, who could build a highly user engaging and robust marketplace.