Tarun Nagar Booking.com is a leading online travel agency that offers travelers the best deals on flights, hotels, and car rentals. It has revolutionized how people book their trips and has become one of the most popular online travel sites. From the mobile application point of view, it is one of the best examples of on demand app development. But how does it make money? What is its booking.com business model? And what are its sources of revenue?
In this article, we will explore these questions and gain insights into Booking.com’s success as an online travel service provider. We will also look at how it uses technology to drive its business forward and provide customers with the best possible experience.
So let’s start reading this blog and discover how to build platform like booking.com. We will start this blog with some basic information that will connect you with the central theme of this article which is about booking.com business model.
What is Booking.com?
First, booking.com is a fantastic travel booking site and mobile app that allows users to book stays, flights, flights & hotels in combo, Airport taxis, and more that can help you plan a fantastic holiday.
From a historical point of view, the foundation year was 1996, and its headquarters is in Amsterdam. It is part of Booking Holdings Inc., and its mission is clear to make it easier for all to experience the world more significantly.
By leveraging technology, this platform connects millions of travellers to create lots of memorable moments while travelling from one place to another. The booking.com has collaborated with multiple properties around the world. A traveller can book any property based on availability using the portal. That represents a glimpse of booking.com business model that how it earns.
For example, suppose you are planning a trip to UAE, and you are searching for accommodation or other options available there, then you can search like booking com Dubai. You can find options there. It is just an example.
From the worldwide travellers’ point of view, it is available in 43 languages and 28 million properties listed on this platform. Another best part is their customer support services are available 24/7. So, if you are planning for to develop an app like Booking.com, know everything about travel app development before proceeding further.
The Offerings By Booking.com
Booking.com is a fantastic travel booking website that can be a great reference for a travel booking app development company to develop a unique travel solution. Multiple things make this travel portal and app the preferred choice worldwide travellers. One of the best parts about booking.com is its offerings which are:
1. Incredible Selection
It is your choice what type of apartment you want to book for accommodation to make your holidays memorable. You can book anything from a flat to a beach house via this platform. It works as a single place for all types of options.
2. Low Rates
While travelling from one part of the world to another, most travellers search for affordable options. The booking.com business model is based on earning via offering affordable travel prices worldwide. Here a traveller always gets the best market price available.
3. Instant Confirmation
When a traveller or a user books a holiday, they get instant confirmation. That makes it one of the leading platforms in the travel industry. If you are planning to travel app development, consider it one of the best offerings to include.
4. No Reservation Fees
One of the unique offerings of Booking.com is there is no reservation fee or any hidden charge. Any user can register on the portal without giving a single penny.
5. Secure Booking
From a safety point of view, it is safe for transactions. There is always an extra layer of security so a customer can perform a transaction without fear of cyber threats. The management of app like booking.com is committed to guaranteeing the privacy of all users.
6. 24/7 Support
Whether the customer booked the trip or finished, they can ask for support anytime. The support team comprises 40 language-speaking experts who work round the clock to listen to the customers.
The Booking.com Business Model & Revenue
Booking.com is a leading travel and accommodation website that enables travellers to search, compare, and book hotels, flights, rental cars, and vacation packages from anywhere in the world. With more than 28 million listings in over 230 countries and territories, it has something for everyone.
All are available whether you’re looking for a luxury resort or an affordable hostel. The app and website also offer exclusive deals and discounts on accommodations so you can save money while travelling. With its easy-to-use interface and 24/7 customer service support, Booking.com ensures that your travel plans are hassle-free!
What do you think? What makes it possible to become booking.com one of the legendary travel booking platforms?
That is its business model. The booking.com’s core business model is an agency business model, and it also generates revenue from merchants via onboarding merchants and advertising.
The graph of booking.com’s revenue raised after 2004 ($0.91 billion). By 2022, its recorded revenue was $16.02 billion, whereas it was just $6.97 billion in 2020. its current market cap is $95.21 billion.
So let’s break down the booking.com business models into parts!
#1. Revenue Model
Booking.com is based on the agency revenue model and earns from commissions similar to the brick-and-mortar travel agency. It earns a 10-30% commission from hotels on each booking, depending on the hotel type and size.
#2. Business Strategy
As per the business strategy, it offers a large inventory via categories and filters that a user can choose according to the requirement. Its parts of the strategy are:
- Frictionless user experience
- Business partners such as hotels and merchants can track their earnings and progress.
- There is no hesitation in enhancing the customer experience.
- Having a good collaboration with multiple brands.
#3. Customer Acquisition Strategy
The booking.com earned via offering a large inventory where customers can choose a low price accommodation with all types of amenities. It focuses on what a customer needs Making a strong base of technology and innovation.
For acquiring customers, they use a unique policy. They constantly follow the process to improve the online experience. One of the best examples of the customer acquisition strategy is delivering a personalised message even after a long time of service booking.
How Booking.com Works?
Developing the travel website and app would be much better to understand its working. Although here, you will have the assistance of a Custom Web Development services provider. But as a business owner, you need to keep the focus on all the things. So to understand it, we need to break it into two parts:
#1. Booking.com for Customers
As we read earlier in this blog that booking.com’s business model is based on providing ease to its stakeholders, which are customers and property owners. So the working of customer panel is easy. It works like this:
- Destination: for searching an accommodation, end users must first choose a destination across the globe.
- Requirements: once the user selects the destination, they have access to multiple filters according to their preference. They can choose a number of rooms based on their group size, or an individual can choose a room at the hotel, motel, resort,, or other property with preference.
- Payment: After choosing a room at the preferred location, the next step is to pay for booking confirmation. The best part is there are multiple payment options are available.
Now let’s understand how the process of hotel booking app development works for hotel owners. Before you launch an on-demand app for any business domain, it is crucial to understand, how the application works.
#2. Booking.com for Hotel Owners
The booking.com business model is also focused on providing benefits to property owners. Hotel owners are crucial stakeholders like the customers, as booking.com does not own properties.
A strong collaboration with multiple hotel or property owners indirectly benefits the customers by having ample booking options. So, when you create hotel booking app for owners, include the following features.
- Registration & Listing: for listing the property on the portal, a hotel owner needs to register; first, that includes providing a username and other essential business details. It also includes documentary proof of property & ownership.
- Verification: The booking.com’s team handles the verification process, validating and verifying all the details submitted by hotel owners.
- Property Setup: Once the hotel owner’s account is validated and verified, it’s time to set up the property on the website. The property owners can set the rooms and showcase their USPs, images or videos of the property, and other details.
- Live Details: Once all the above steps are done ,property will live on booking.com’s portal, where an owner can cross-check all the details.
There is no need to say that working is very easy, although there is complex coding behind the website and app. Its simplest work made booking.com a perfect option for holidays.
From the business point of view, if you want to implement the same in your travel website, you need to consult a mobile app development company with a proven track record in holiday booking app development
How To Develop A Travel App Like Booking.com?
The central theme of this blog is the booking.com business model. But for the readers who wish to know how to develop app like Booking.com or a travel website, we have included the steps below.
Suppose you have iPhone users in your mind, then you have to launch the app on Apple Play Store with the help of iOS app developers. But the decision will be yours on which platform you want to launch.
So, here are the steps:
- Idea formulation: create a unique idea to compete with the other travel booking apps available in the market.
- Feature selection: make a shortlist of the features that will take your app to the next level.
- Hire Mobile App Developers: Once you have decided about the idea and features. It’s time to hire dedicated developers who will assist you the best in developing the app you want.
- Wireframing: the app development will start with wireframing. It refers to preparing the blueprint of the app.
- UI/UX designing: A fantastic interface for an attractive travel app is a must. So here, developers will do it accordingly, and the rest of the things will depend on their expertise.
- Backend development: the backend development part will contain code development for running the application seamlessly.
- Test and Launch: Once the application is developed, it will go for testing to eliminate all types of glitches; after testing, launch your application.
Additionally, developing an app like booking.com takes 3-4 months initially, and the rest depends on the app’s complexity. If you want to know how much does it cost to develop an app like booking.com, it ranges from around $20,000 to $30,000. The remaining price also depends on the model to hire an app developer.
The Final Thoughts
Booking.com is one of the most successful online travel agencies in the world. It has a unique business model offers travellers a wide range of travel options and services at competitive prices. The company’s revenue comes from commissions on bookings, advertising, and other services it provides to customers.
In this article, we have discussed the Booking.com business model, its operations, and its revenue sources in detail so you can better understand how this company makes money.
You can refer to this article as a brief guide to developing an app like Booking.com with the help of iOS or Android app developers. Also, getting in touch with a leading hotel booking app development company will help you get an edge over your competitors.
