Developing a Centralized Travel Management Platform for Agencies and Travelers

Trips, documents, and chat in one travel platform

We created a travel management platform that facilitated trips, documents, and communication for travelers and travel agencies in one place. The platform also featured both Android and iOS mobile apps that enabled travelers to view their itineraries, book hotels, search for flights, and manage checklists and travel documents without having to sift through pieces of paper or scattered emails and attachments.

The objective was to make it easier to manage trips for both agencies and clients. Travel agencies were looking for some way to better organize the handling of customer documents and updates, while travelers wanted quicker access to important trip information while on the go. The platform was built to provide a seamless and enjoyable travel experience for users when booking and traveling.

Travel documents scattered across airlines, hotels, and agents

The biggest problem was the lack of centralized travel documentation from various sources, including airlines, hotels, cruise companies, and travel agents. When traveling, clients would often not have the right documents or would not receive updated files.

There was a problem of communication as well. There was a significant number of agencies that continued to use their email-based workflow systems, causing delays, duplication, and confusion around changes to itineraries. The client wanted something centralized, whereby they could share updates and not have to wait for long email chains.

We also had to create an easy-to-navigate mobile experience that was equally easy for travelers to use, but also supported complex agency workflows in the background. Agencies required visibility into whether their clients had successfully activated their accounts, viewed documents, and successfully received updates.

Another challenge in their operation was the ability to manage a lot of clients and trips. The platform had to be able to handle multiple agencies, shared trips, categorize documents, and allow secure access to files without impacting performance.​

How we built it: React Native for both app stores

The mobile applications were created using React Native to give the user a consistent experience on both Android and iOS platforms, while minimizing development costs. The apps enabled travelers to access the flight, hotel, cruise, and car rental documents from a single pane of glass.

On the back end, we utilized Node.js and Express.js to make sure of APIs, trip data, document uploads, notifications, and communication workflows between agencies and travelers. Trip information, client activity, travel documents, and agency records were all structured and stored in a database using PostgreSQL.

AWS cloud storage was implemented to safeguard PDFs, images, and travel documents and to enable faster access across devices. We also created a notification feature that notified travelers when agencies published new documents or trip information.

We created a multi-tenant management model for agencies, enabling them to run their own business while operating their own clients and trips from a single platform but without needing to share any information. Activity tracking was also added to help agencies track account activation, views of the document and engagement with clients more effectively.

We introduced categorized storage for documents, trip overview pages, packing lists, shared task lists for trips and built-in PDF/Image viewers into the application for better usability.

What we shipped: a complete agency and traveler solution

We provided a full travel management solution that contained the following:

• Android and iOS mobile apps.
• A centralized travel document management system.
• Trip overview and trip planning dashboards.
• Flight tracking integration.
• Security for PDF & image documents.
• Collaborative checklists and trip planning.
• A multi-tenant portal for travel agencies.
• Activity and document-view tracking for clients.

Travelers were able to find all the information associated with their trip on a single platform, which saves an estimated 25 to 35% on document-related support requests. Push notifications and centralized updates also elevated the visibility rate of documents by around 30-40%. Travelers experienced a decrease in the average time to retrieve a document from several minutes to less than 30 seconds within the app during testing.

The outcome: agency coordination without the manual work

The platform has contributed to modernizing the way travel agencies communicate and share documents with their clients. For agencies, it eliminated manual coordination tasks and gave deeper insight into the activities of customers through the tracking of documents and monitoring of their activities.

This project showcased Coding Crafts' ability to develop a mobile platform that integrates securely managed documents, cloud-based systems, real-time communication workflows, and user-centric travel experiences on a scalable level. The solution addressed operational challenges and provided a smoother digital experience for agencies and travelers.