A standard build (one website and one app, for iOS and Android) starts from GBP 3,000 + VAT. Enhancing a site you already have is the same price as building a new one. Hosting and care is from GBP 99 + VAT a month. Terms, conditions and usage limits apply. That standard covers most of what the travel trade asks for; above it, cost is driven by complexity, not by a per-page rate. A clean brochure site for a representation company sits at one end; a tour-operator platform with itinerary tools, trade logins and integrations sits at the other. Here is what actually moves the number.
What actually drives the cost
Most quotes for a travel-trade project come down to five things, and they do not carry equal weight. Integrations and trade features are what turn a four-week build into a twelve-week one; page count almost never is.
- Scope and depth. A five-page brochure site is a different brief from a sector platform with dozens of product pages, filtering and structured data.
- Content readiness. If imagery, copy and product data exist and are organised, the build moves faster. If they need creating or untangling, that is real work.
- Trade features. Agent logins, partner portals, rate or availability feeds, downloadable kits, multi-currency and multi-language all add genuine engineering.
- Integrations. Connecting to a reservation system, CRM, payment provider or third-party feed is where simple projects become involved ones.
- Ongoing care. Hosting, security, backups and updates are a monthly commitment, not a one-off — and worth budgeting for from the start.
Three shapes of project
It helps to picture where you sit, because the shape matters more than the page count:
- A brochure or representation site — about four weeks. A sharp, fast, trade-credible presence — who you are, what you represent, how partners reach you. The most common starting point for rep companies, PR teams and associations.
- A sector site with depth — four to eight weeks, or six to twelve for a large operator. A tour operator, DMC or lodge group presenting structured product — itineraries, properties, destinations — that has to read well to both the trade and the consumer.
- A trade platform — eight to twelve weeks. Logins, portals, downloadable resources, feeds and tools your partners use to do business with you. This is bespoke software, and it is priced as such.
What to watch for
The cheapest and most expensive options both carry risk:
- Template marketplaces look cheap until you need anything specific to the trade — then you are paying to fight the template.
- Offshore booking-engine vendors sell commodity portals built around a fixed product. They can be cost-effective, but you inherit their template and their roadmap, not your own brand.
- Generalist agencies can build beautifully, but you will spend part of your budget explaining how the travel trade works before any code is written. (We wrote more on that in specialist vs general agency.)
What to ask before you accept a quote
Six questions worth putting to any agency, including us. The answers tell you more than the number does:
- What happens if the scope changes? A fixed quote with no change process is a quote that will be revisited awkwardly.
- Who owns the code and the content when we are done? The answer should be you, without a licence attached.
- What is the monthly cost after launch, and what does it cover? Hosting, security, backups and updates are ongoing whoever builds it.
- Which integrations are in scope, and which are assumptions? Reservation systems and rate feeds are where quotes move.
- Who writes the content, and is that in the price? Content readiness is the most common cause of a slipped launch.
- Can I see something live that you built for this part of the trade? Not a portfolio image — a URL.
How we price it
Charnette scopes and publishes a standard price and scopes the larger builds after a short discovery conversation — there is no single package above that standard, because no two operators sell the same way. We work in GBP, EUR, USD or ZAR depending on your business, and we are clear about what is in scope before anything starts. We also host and maintain what we build, so launch and handover are one continuous relationship rather than a cliff edge.
The bottom line
Budget for the job, not the page count. Be upfront with any partner about your trade features and integrations up front — that is where surprises live. And weigh the monthly care alongside the build: a website that is fast, secure and quietly looked after earns its keep for years, while a cheap one that drifts out of date costs more in lost direct business than it ever saved.
If you would like a straight answer for your specific operation, tell us what you are building and we will scope it properly.
Common questions
How long does a travel-trade website take to build?
A brochure or representation site is usually live in about four weeks. A sector site with real product depth — a tour operator, DMC or lodge group — typically takes four to eight weeks, and six to twelve for a large operator with many destinations. A trade platform with logins, portals and feeds runs eight to twelve weeks, because it is bespoke software rather than a website. The timeline moves on the same things the cost does: integrations, trade features and whether the content is ready.
How much does a travel-trade website cost?
A standard build (one website and one app, for iOS and Android) starts from GBP 3,000 + VAT, and enhancing an existing site is the same price. Hosting and care is from GBP 99 + VAT a month. Terms, conditions and usage limits apply. Until 31 December 2026, new business clients who take 12 months’ hosting and care, paid upfront, pay no build fee for one website and one app, for iOS and Android (limited to the first 25 clients or 31 December 2026, whichever comes first; a case study and testimonial are part of the offer). See the offer. Above that standard, cost is driven by complexity, not a per-page rate. A clean brochure site for a representation company is a different brief from a tour-operator or DMC platform with itinerary tools, agent logins and integrations. The main cost drivers are scope and depth, content readiness, trade features (logins, portals, feeds), integrations (reservation systems, CRM, payments) and ongoing hosting and care. Charnette publishes a standard price and scopes the larger builds after a discovery conversation, billing in GBP, EUR, USD or ZAR.
Do you publish fixed prices, or is everything bespoke?
Both, and the line between them is the point. A standard build (one website and one app, for iOS and Android) starts from GBP 3,000 + VAT, and enhancing a site you already have is the same price; hosting and care is from GBP 99 + VAT a month. Terms, conditions and usage limits apply. Above that standard the work stops being comparable — a trade portal with net rates and allocation, or a build sitting across a reservation system, is scoped after a short discovery call, because a fixed package there would either over-charge a simple brief or under-deliver a complex one.
What makes a travel-trade website more expensive?
Trade features and integrations. Agent logins, partner portals, rate or availability feeds, downloadable kits, multi-currency and multi-language, and connections to reservation systems, CRMs or payment providers all add genuine engineering. A brochure or representation site without these sits at the lower end; a trade platform with logins and feeds is bespoke software and is priced as such.
Should I budget for ongoing costs as well as the build?
Yes. Hosting, security, backups and updates are a monthly commitment, not a one-off. A fast, secure, well-maintained site earns its keep for years; a cheap one that drifts out of date usually costs more in lost direct business than it saved at build time.
