Hotel Booking Engine for Saudi Travel Startup

Industry:

Travel and Leisure

Vertical:

Travel Startup, Travel Agency

Technology:

Java 11, Spring 5, MySQL, MongoDB, Hibernate 5, Angular 9, TypeScript, HTML5, SCSS, Webpack

Scope:

7300+ man-hours

Approach:

Custom Travel Software Development

Project Background

Our client is an ambitious travel startup based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, focused on revolutionizing the travel industry. The company aims to provide a platform that facilitates the online distribution of traditional hotel and flight bookings, as well as exclusive, competitive deals, to both individual and corporate clients. With plans to scale rapidly, the startup envisions becoming a key player not only in the local Saudi Arabian market but also globally.

Challenge

The client came to GP Solutions with a clear, innovative business idea: to build a hotel booking engine with a unique auction-based approach to reservations. This concept required a technology solution that could not only accommodate this distinct business model but also scale seamlessly as the platform grew to serve larger volumes of individual and corporate users.

In addition, the system needed to integrate critical functionalities offered by leading competitors while offering a differentiated, competitive advantage based on the client’s custom auction approach.

Goal

The primary goal was to develop a platform that could support multiple sales models, including B2C, B2B, and C2C. Specifically, the platform needed to:

Allow individual travelers to book, buy, and resell hotel and flight reservations.
Enable corporate clients to buy and resell hotel room blocks through an auction system.
Integrate advanced search, booking, and payment functionalities while delivering a smooth, user-friendly experience.
Provide back-end tools for managing deals, inventory, pricing, and customer data.

Solution

The project was developed in multiple phases, based on a thorough business analysis performed by GP Solutions. The solution included the following key phases:

Phase #1: Search & Book Functionality

The platform’s search and booking engine was built using Java and Angular, enabling users to search for hotels and flights based on customizable filters and criteria. The results were divided into two categories: regular offers (sourced through B2B supplier API integrations) and special (limited-time) deals, which were created by the client. Special deals offered discounted rates compared to regular offers and were available for resale.

The system compared the prices and presented the most attractive options to the user before transferring them to the booking flow.

Phase #2: Individual & Corporate Deal Management

To support both individual and corporate clients, GP Solutions developed custom functionality allowing users to manage and track deals, bookings, and customer data. This included detailed analytics, product descriptions, high-resolution images, dynamic pricing, and inventory management. Corporate users could auction off hotel room blocks, while individual users could buy and resell bookings with ease.

Phase #3: Integration of B2B Supplier APIs

To expand the platform’s offerings, we integrated several key flight and hotel suppliers via their XML/JSON APIs. This included suppliers like Hotelbeds, GTA, Tourico, and Mystifly. The platform’s roadmap included plans to further enhance supplier content and add additional hotel bedbanks and flight services as the business expanded.

Phase #4: Online Payment Gateway Integration

For seamless transactions, the platform was integrated with PAYFORT, a trusted online payment gateway widely used in the region. This integration ensured secure and instant payments, supporting a smooth user experience and enforcing strong user data protection standards.

Phase #5: Customer-facing Website (B2C)

Finally, GP Solutions developed a user-friendly, minimalistic website that aligned with the client’s brand and business concept. The site featured an intuitive flight and hotel booking interface, a dropdown calendar, and a chatbot with integrated search-and-book capabilities. The platform was designed for simplicity and ease of use, ensuring customers could quickly find and book the best travel deals.

Results

The platform, powered by the innovative auction-based approach to booking, achieved remarkable success in the following ways:

User Experience: The website’s intuitive design, advanced search functionality, and chatbot capabilities made it easy for users to find and book their travel deals efficiently.
Custom Business Model: The unique auction feature for corporate clients and resell capabilities for individual travelers differentiated the platform from its competitors and created new revenue streams.
Scalability: The system was built to handle a growing number of individual users, corporate clients, and partner suppliers, positioning the startup for global expansion.
Supplier Integration: Through integrations with top-tier suppliers, the platform offered a wide variety of competitive hotel and flight deals, ensuring that users had access to the best available options.
Transaction Efficiency: The seamless payment gateway integration allowed for fast and secure transactions, enhancing the user experience and trust.

Impact & Efficiency
The new platform significantly boosted the startup’s competitiveness in the travel market. The flexible, auction-based booking system attracted both individual and corporate clients, offering them a unique value proposition not available with traditional booking engines. The ability to buy, resell, and auction bookings allowed users to access exclusive deals and gave corporate clients an innovative way to manage room blocks.

The integration of B2B supplier APIs and a reliable payment gateway streamlined operations, while the scalable architecture ensured the platform could grow alongside the business, handling increased volumes and new services with ease.

In just a short period, the platform established itself as a disruptive force in the region’s travel market, positioning the startup for continued growth and success on both local and global scales.

Our Clients Say

“Our company would like thank GP Solutions for being so cooperative in implementing software solutions for our company in the shortest possible period. Your team has manifested the ultimate operational excellence and highest professional and personal competence. We consider your team’s cohesion and unity spirit as the key stone of our project’s success.”

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Sven Schiller

Information Technology Director

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Josea Browne

Managing Director

“I can highly recommend the services of GP Solutions. During the past 1.5 years, our company has been working with GP Solutions on a new project of ours. The company offers high quality services. We can say that we have always been satisfied by their work.”

Dennis Behnsen

Vice President

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Benjamin Weller

Head of IT

“Their expertise in travel-oriented development and their team’s wide range of skills has been huge for us. Engage their people as soon as possible within your project timeline. They have a fantastic level of expertise on all development fronts that will help your project get moving quickly.”

Marc Blaser

Director Projects

“Due to their experience in travel IT we’ve selected GP Solutions to work on a custom project for TOURCOMPASS, which involved interaction with Amadeus. We found GP team to be professional, dependable and responsive. We are pleased to recommend GP Solutions GmbH as a reliable travel technology partner.”