Skift Take
No huge surprises on Google Maps, but Booking.com outmatched rival Airbnb in downloads in the online travel bureau classification worldwide by almost 20 million in 2021. That’s not a game-changer, but it’s important if Reservation is going to consume into Airbnb’s daunting direct-booking benefit.
Dennis Schaal
Google Maps was the most-downloaded travel app on the planet in 2021 with 106 million downloads, edging Uber, which held that difference in 2020.
In reality transport apps, including Google Maps, Uber, Didi, Bolt, Lyft, Where Is My Train, and Get took seven of the leading 10 positions in 2021, according to Apptopia.com.
Obviously, you can argue that navigation and ridesharing apps aren’t “travel,” but they certainly bleed into the classification. All of these apps are used by residents and tourists.
(See travel and online travel agency apps with the most downloads worldwide in two charts listed below.)
Download data aren’t simply a function of appeal; they also show just how much marketing resources companies commit to drawing in these installs.
In October, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s moms and dad, Alphabet, stated Google Maps included environment friendly routing in the U.S., allowing drivers to find routes that produce fewer emissions, and also presented a feature notifying motorists to wildfires.
Google Maps is way more than a navigation app and in 2015 it presented “simpler ways for organizations to show the regional services they use, from hair extensions to vehicle repair,” Google Chief Organization Officer Philipp Schindler stated at that time.
Online travel bureau Booking.com (3 ), based in Europe, and short-term rental giant Airbnb (5 ), headquartered in the U.S., were the only 2 pure-play travel apps to make it into the list of top 10 travel apps by downloads globally in 2021.
When it pertained to the top 10 most-downloaded online travel bureau apps internationally in 2021, the leading three were Booking.com, Airbnb, and Hopper, with the latter becoming a lot more mainstream over the last year.
Of the leading 10 most-downloaded online travel bureau apps all over the world, Expedia Group represented 4 of them, namely Expedia (4 ), Vrbo (6 ), Trivago (7 ), and Hotels.com (connected for 8).
Expedia Group claims to be reorienting the business towards mobile.
“And then on the tourist side, we have not really been an app-first company,” Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern said at an investor conference in early December. “We will now be an app-first business, including all the goodness that comes with a tool that is with you for your whole journey, it keeps you notified, that keeps you notified in the shopping path.”
Booking Holdings secured 2 of the leading 10 most-downloaded online travel bureau apps, namely Booking.com (1) and Agoda (5 ). Booking’s Kayak brand didn’t make the top 10 as Expedia Group’s Trivago was the sole metasearch, or window shopping brand, in the mix.
Booking sees mobile as a major priority since it wants more direct reservations.
“The app is extremely strategic because not just is it a terrific booking experience since it’s clean and it’s on a phone, however it’s an extremely important piece of real estate,” Booking Holdings Chief Financial Officer David Goulden told investors and analysts last month. “Down the road, you believe that app mobile users mean some individuals have numerous apps on their phone, however the majority of people only use a number of handfuls, maybe 20. And being among those ones that are used a lot is an extremely powerful position to be which app realty is extremely essential.”
Oyo, the India-based hotel-booking site and operator, burglarized the leading most-downloaded online travel bureau apps around the world in 2021, tying Hotels.com in the eighth position with 12 million downloads.
Oyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal tweeted on Saturday that the business notched 503,000 room night bookings on December 30 and 31, and 58 percent of these New Year’s bookings were made on the very same day of the stay, according to Zee News.
10 Most-Downloaded Travel Apps Worldwide 2021
| App | Downloads |
|---|---|
| 1. Google Maps | 106M |
| 2. Uber | 94M |
| 3. Booking.com | 63M |
| 4. Google Earth | 57M |
| 5. Airbnb | 44M |
| 6. Didi | 27M |
| 7. Bolt | 25M |
| 8. Lyft | 23.3 M |
| 9. Where Is My Train | 23.1 M |
| 10. Get | 23M |
Source: Apptopia.com
Note: These data do not properly measure Chinese apps since Apptopia just collects iOS data from that nation.
10 Most-Downloaded Online Travel Bureau Apps Globally 2021
| App | Downloads |
|---|---|
| 1. Booking.com | 63M |
| 2. Airbnb | 44M |
| 3. Hopper | 19M |
| 4. Expedia | 15M |
| 5. Agoda | 14M |
| 6. Vrbo | 13.4 M |
| 7. Trivago | 13M |
| 8. Hotels.com | 12M |
| 8. Oyo | 12M |
| 9. Tripadvisor | 9.7 M |
Source: Apptopia.com