Travelling used to mean going to the local travel agent or calling the airline directly to book flights. Today, with the growth of digital solutions and consumer apps, the travel experience is simpler than ever. From trip planners to taxi hailers, airlines, and accommodation, the days of a folder full of printed itineraries, tickets, and boarding passes are gone. Instead, a single phone with the right apps can hold the essentials for an entire vacation.
Connectivity looks set to be the next trend in convenience. With traditional SIMs, travelling used to mean buying a local SIM, going off the grid, or waiting with bated breath for the roaming bill once back home. But with travel eSIMs, travelers can now avoid laborious or costly ways of maintaining seamless connectivity abroad.
Kaleido Intelligence predicts a 500% rise in retail spend on travel eSIM between 2023 and 2028, with the market hitting $10 billion. This rapid growth illustrates the significant impact travel eSIMs are already having on global connectivity, and how this is only set to grow as more mainstream mobile devices adopt eSIM compatibility.
The next evolution in travel? The integration of travel eSIMs with consumer apps to offer a rounded and seamless experience. Users are already seeking connectivity; the next step is for consumer apps to provide it. Let’s explore how this partnership could work and the benefits it could drive for both users and consumer app companies.
Why Consumer Apps Should Adopt Travel eSIM
Travel eSIM benefits for users:
- Connectivity and instant activation – Users don’t need to visit a store or wait for a SIM to be delivered; they can be purchased and activated online almost instantly.
- Cost savings over traditional roaming - Unlike expensive international roaming plans, eSIMs offer local or regional pricing. Prepaid data options help travelers avoid bill shock from unexpected roaming fees.
- Dual-SIM flexibility – Travelers can keep their primary SIM active for calls while using an eSIM for data, which is ideal for business travelers with separate numbers for personal and work use.
Travel eSIM benefits for consumer apps:
- New revenue channel - Launch a high-margin service without the need for heavy infrastructure. Travel eSIMs offer a low-barrier way to diversify your income and boost profitability.
- Keep users on your app - With built-in connectivity, users no longer need to leave your app to get online. You stay front and center—before, during, and after their trip.
- Strengthened brand loyalty - Position your brand as a full-service travel companion. Offering eSIMs shows you’re solving real-world travel challenges, earning deeper trust and long-term loyalty.
- Unlock richer customer insights - Gain access to valuable travel data and behavior patterns. Use these insights to deliver smarter, more personalized offers that resonate.
The Consumer App Revolution: A Connected Travel Experience
Phones form an important part of our everyday life, and that doesn’t change when we get on a plane. Travel apps today mean having everything essential for a trip in one central place, right in the palm of your hand. From research to booking flights and accommodation to translation and money exchange, an entire holiday can happen right on our mobile devices. Annual downloads of travel apps globally reached over 2.8 billion in 2024, as travelers around the world rely on the ease and convenience of digital travel agents, travel guidance platforms, vehicle rental companies, FinTechs, airlines, and travel insurance to turn their dream holiday into a reality.
This only emphasizes the need for seamless mobile connectivity. Imagine:
- Your boarding pass won’t load
- You can’t book a taxi from the airport
- You can’t contact the host of your rental property
- You can’t access your tickets to landmarks
- You can’t exchange money or use your global travel card
- You can’t find recommendations for dinner
From a user perspective, these apps are essential, and having your boarding passes load instantly, messaging your rental host with ease, or having access to your digital travel banking card can be the difference between a good vacation and a bad one. When connectivity issues strike, users can feel stranded, and this inevitably impacts the consumer apps that users today depend upon.
For these companies, keeping users in-app with a seamless experience only serves to provide a better customer experience, as well as increase the likelihood of customers staying in-app and purchasing additional services. That’s why an integrated eSIM offering on consumer travel apps just makes sense.
A recent study by the University of Maryland explored the effect of apps crashing on users. They observed that after a single crash, page views increased due to the Zeigarnik effect. This effect describes the increased urge to complete a task once it’s been interrupted. In a travel context, if an app fails to load due to poor connectivity, users are often more determined to finish what they started. By offering an eSIM with instant activation, apps can turn that frustration into a win, capturing attention and increasing engagement at a critical moment.
This study also saw that repeated crashes discourage users and cause them to use an app less. Thus, failing to provide a connectivity solution can help build that frustration and lead to an increase in bounce rate and cart abandonment.
The Power of Partnership: Why Travel Apps Should Integrate eSIMs
For consumer travel apps, their customer base is already looking for seamless connectivity abroad; all you need to do is offer it. Instead of sending users elsewhere, keep users in-app and upping their basket with an integrated offering that allows them to purchase and activate travel eSIMs almost instantly.
Travel apps today are already integrating partner services into their apps, such as an airline app offering a car hire service from the airport or a travel planner offering tickets directly through their interface. When it comes to offering seamless connectivity, this is the next common-sense step for consumer travel apps, offering a new revenue stream whilst encouraging greater customer loyalty and trust.
Connect Flex: The Perfect Travel eSIM Partner
With Telna’s Connect Flex, creating an in-app eSIM store has never been easier. Connect Flex requires no inventory pre-stocking and provides instant eSIM activation, so your customers can access seamless global connectivity with ease. Deliver the connectivity experience your customers want with Connect Flex.
Find out more about how Connect Flex could integrate with your offering by reaching out to our sales team today.
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