It’s that time of year again when folks start to book trips and activities to make themselves feel better and beat the post-holiday blues. And whether it’s gym sessions, summer holidays, or short leisure breaks, mobile devices have made it much easier for customers to make bookings anywhere, anytime. But as a business developing and maintaining an in-house booking system to manage this demand is both costly and time consuming.
Thankfully there’s lots of web-based online booking and reservation management software to do the hard work for you. Many of these SaaS products have accompanying iPad online booking apps that are easy to use and help you to start accepting reservations through your website and social media channels instantly using the booking software.
These iPad apps for the hospitality and the travel industry are suitable for a wide range of industries including hotels, tours, sightseeing operators, bars, hair salons, restaurants, and even one-off courses or events. They allow customers to book and pay for your services or products with a credit card wherever they are with no need to use the phone or contact sales staff.
Here are five of the best iPad booking apps for hospitality and travel. These are subscription-based applications, but most come with free trials so you can get a feel for them.
MINDBODY
MINDBODY boasts two different iPad reservation apps: one for consumers and one for businesses. The consumer version of MINDBODY for iPad is an easy-to-use booking software that helps users find health and fitness services near to them. The MINDBODY iPad app allows customers to find health and fitness deals in their area, book classes and manage their upcoming reservations and schedules. MINDBODY for iOS encourages new customers to become regular clients by setting up recurring billing and automated referral programs to encourage them spread the word. The app also shows users a map of where your business is located based on their current location and enables them to filter fitness and health businesses by type.
The business-focused application, MINDBODY Express lets you manage your appointment schedule, look up client details, and track daily sales. This online booking app for iPad gives you the flexibility to adjust your schedule at the tap of a button. It also features support for processing payments via credit card, cash, check, or gift payments.
Pricing: From $30 per month.
MINDBODY
Trekksoft
TrekkSoft is one of the most popular and accessible iPad online booking apps for travel and leisure companies. The web app allows you to set up your own personalized, branded website and the iPad app allows you to manage and review your booking system anywhere. For example, you can access a general overview of your upcoming activities, see how many guests are booked for a particular time, the number of seats still available and make changes to your availability and maximum capacities on the move.
The Trekksoft iPad app also allows you to take bookings anywhere and your guests can pay anywhere by swiping a credit or debit card through TrekkSoft’s convenient mobile card reader (available separately). You can also scan and validate tickets with your mobile camera to check for outstanding balances and track ticket usage making the TrekkSoft iOS app extremely flexible.
Pricing: Various commission-based payment plans.
Trekksoft
Checkfront
Checkfront is a centralized booking management system for iPad that allows you to quickly integrate your inventory into an online booking system. The Checkfront iPad app allows you to quickly access bookings, check in customers, create new reservations on the go, and keep in touch with your staff from your Apple tablet.
Checkfront for iPad allows you to quickly review booking availability, and when used alongside the web version, Checkfront is ideal for managing accommodation, tours, rentals and professional service bookings. It can be integrated with WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, Facebook and stand-alone websites which can be integrated into your own site with the Checkfront API.
Pricing: From $49 per month.
Checkfront
Booker Mobile
Booker Mobile is the online booking iPad app for the Booker Software web app which is an all-in-one web based business management platform. Booker Mobile is designed for service-based businesses ranging from spas and salons, yoga and fitness gyms and pet grooming services to swimming pools, tennis coaches, and franchises with branches in multiple locations.
The Booker Mobile app for iPad allows you to view and manage your booking calendar, book, update and cancel appointments, view customer notes and profiles and apply special discounts among many other things.
Booker Software is used by some huge corporations including Hard Rock Hotel and Hilton Hotels so it’s a highly competent and sophisticated booking software application that can be scaled up easily.
Pricing: From $85 per month.
Booker Mobile
ZOZI Advance
ZOZI Advance is a well organized booking system for tour, activity, event, and rental businesses. The ZOZI Advance iPad reservation app helps you manage bookings and take payments from one convenient dashboard.
ZOZI Advance for iOS can help reduce lines and waiting times thanks to one-click group check-ins and support for finger signature for digital waivers. As with many of these iPad online booking apps, you can take bookings and payments with cash, credit card or check and you can adjust activity times and capacity on the go to deal with unexpected cancellations or over bookings.
ZOZI Advance
The ZOZI Advance mobile app allows you to check your calendar from anywhere and you can promote your business further on the ZOZI.com marketplace where customers can search services and businesses by type and make bookings directly.
These online booking apps for iPad will help bring your business closer to customers and significantly cut down on your booking and administration costs. Let us know which iPhone booking software you use for your business, and go check out our sister site, GetApp, where you can view and compare the top online booking and reservation software.
