How to make an app for a tour operator

A tour operator runs trips on fixed dates, and each departure has its own travellers, seats, vehicles, rooms and payments. An app for your team keeps every departure in one place: who is coming, who has paid the balance, who shares which room and which leader goes.

Updated 2026-11-09

Who uses the app

Usually the owner, the office team and the trip leaders. If only the office phone is used, the data can stay on it. If trip leaders need the traveller list on their own phones on the trip, connect a Supabase database so everyone sees the same list. Travellers booking seats themselves also needs that database.

The screens a tour operator app needs

Departures: Every upcoming departure by date, with the trip, seats booked out of total, and the trip leader
Departure detail: The traveller list for one departure, with age, pickup point, emergency contact, payment status and food preference
New booking: Pick the departure, add the travellers, the advance received and the balance due date
Payments: Advances and balances by departure, and travellers whose balance is still due
Trips: Your trips with the day-wise plan, inclusions and price, used for quotes and trip PDFs
Team and vehicles: Trip leaders, drivers and vehicles, and which departure each is on

Features worth asking for

Seats left for each departure, worked out from the bookings
A rooming list and traveller list as a PDF for the hotel or camp and the trip leader
A WhatsApp button that opens a ready message with the balance due and the pickup time
A joining instructions PDF with the packing list and pickup point for each traveller
Emergency contacts and medical notes for each traveller, visible to the trip leader
A waiting list for full departures
Trip expenses per departure, such as fuel, stays and permits, against what was collected

Where the data lives

If only the office uses the app, the data can stay on that phone. If trip leaders use it on the trip, or travellers book seats themselves, connect your own Supabase database from the chat; for advances paid online, connect your own Razorpay account too.

How to make it with AppCub, step by step

Decide what the app does. List the screens you need, for example: Departures, Departure detail, New booking, Payments, Trips.
Describe it to AppCub. Paste the request below, changed to your own business and details.
Check the plan. AppCub shows the screens and features it will build. Change them in the chat until they are right; seeing the plan is free.
Try it on your phone. The app runs live next to the chat. Scan the QR code to install it, and ask for changes.
Share it. Share it as a web link, an APK file, or publish it on Google Play from your own developer account.

Copy this request, change the details to match your tour operator, and paste it into AppCub:

Make an app for my tour company, Pahadi Trails in Dehradun. Screens: departures, departure detail, new booking, payments, trips, and team and vehicles. Each departure has a trip, a date, total seats, a trip leader and a vehicle. A booking adds travellers with name, age, phone, emergency contact, food preference and pickup point, plus an advance and a balance due date. Show seats left and a waiting list. Make a traveller list and rooming list as a PDF. Add a WhatsApp button to remind about the balance with the pickup time. Track trip expenses per departure. Green and white colours.

Tips for a tour operator app

Start with departures, bookings and payments. Add vehicles and trip expenses after one or two trips.
Ask trip leaders to download the traveller list as a PDF before they leave, since mountain routes often have no network.
Travellers' ID numbers and medical notes are private. Keep only what you need, and use sign-in if the data is online.
Write your balance and cancellation rules down once, such as balance due 15 days before departure, and give them to AppCub so the app shows the right due dates.
Try one past departure with its real travellers to check the seat count and totals.

What it costs

Describing your app and seeing AppCub’s plan for it is free.
A new app usually takes 60 to 110 credits. Start with the 2-day trial for ₹99 (150 credits, enough for one app and a few changes) or the one-time App Pack for ₹499. Starter is ₹1,599 a month for 700 credits.
Google Play needs a paid plan (it includes the Play Store bundle and your app’s signing key) and your own Google Play developer account, a one-time US$25 fee to Google.
Work that fails or is rolled back costs no credits.

See all plans

Good to know

AppCub doesn't track vehicles by GPS, doesn't connect to online travel sites and sends nothing automatically. Reminders and joining details go out when your team taps the WhatsApp button.
AppCub builds Android apps. You can also share the app as a web link that opens on any phone; for the iPhone App Store, AppCub’s team can do it for you.

Questions

Can the app show how many seats are left on each departure?

Yes. The app counts the travellers booked against the seats you set for each departure, and you can add a waiting list once it is full.

Can my trip leader see the traveller list during the trip?

Yes, if the app is connected to your Supabase database. In places with no network, the leader can carry the traveller list as a PDF saved on the phone.

Can travellers pay the advance in the app?

Yes, with a payment button on your own Razorpay account, after you connect Razorpay and Supabase in the chat. The money goes to you, not AppCub.

Can the app make a rooming list for the hotel?

Yes. Ask for room sharing per departure, such as twin or triple, and the app makes a rooming list PDF to send to the hotel or camp.

Can I see if a departure made a profit?

Yes. Ask for trip expenses per departure, like fuel, stays, meals and permits, and the app shows them against the money collected.

Can the app follow the bus on a map?

No. AppCub doesn't connect to GPS trackers. You can add a Google Maps link for the pickup point and each night's stay.

Make your tour operator app

Seeing the plan is free. Building starts with a 2-day trial for ₹99.

Start building