Case study · Travinto
Travinto: A Headless WordPress Travel Web App With Its Own Booking Flow
We rebuilt a slow WordPress travel site as a Next.js front end on a WordPress content backend, with a custom booking flow and a CMS the content team can run on its own.
- 4×
- Faster page load
- 63%
- More booking conversions
- 98
- Lighthouse score
- Client
- Travinto
- Industry
- Travel & Tour Operators
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Year
- 2024
The challenge
Travinto's WordPress site was holding the business back on speed, booking experience and content management.
A slow WordPress stack
The site scored under 40 on Lighthouse. Plugin bloat pushed every page load past 6 seconds, which hurt search rankings and bounce rate.
No flexible booking flow
Travellers expected an app-like way to search destinations and book packages. The theme could not support interactive filters or live availability.
A content team waiting on developers
Marketing needed control over destinations, itineraries and the blog without raising a developer ticket each time. Content and code were tangled together.
What we did
A headless architecture
WordPress became a content backend only (WPGraphQL and ACF), with a Next.js front end. Editors keep the WordPress dashboard they know, and pages are statically generated, so they load almost instantly.
A custom booking flow
A multi-step React booking wizard with live availability, dynamic pricing and traveller counts, connected to a third-party booking API. WordPress manages the destination content.
The package page keeps the decision information together: photography, duration, group size, inclusions, reviews and a clear availability action. Travellers can evaluate the trip without losing their place in the story.
Checkout breaks the booking into focused steps. The trip summary and total stay visible while travellers add their details, reducing uncertainty before payment.
An SEO-first front end
Destination and package pages are pre-rendered with structured data, Open Graph tags and generated sitemaps, so every page can be indexed.
A CMS editors can run
Custom post types for destinations, packages and itineraries, with simple field groups. Editors publish and preview without touching code.
Stack and tools
- Next.js and React
- WordPress with WPGraphQL, the REST API and ACF
- Tailwind CSS
- Custom booking flow on a third-party booking API
Timeline
| Phase | Duration |
|---|---|
| Discovery and architecture | 2 weeks |
| Headless WordPress setup and API | 3 weeks |
| Front-end build | 6 weeks |
| QA, SEO and launch | 2 weeks |
Results
In the first 60 days after launch: pages loaded 4× faster, booking conversions rose 63% and the site scored 98 on Lighthouse.
BananaBlocks didn't just rebuild our site, they changed how our whole team works. Our content editors love the new dashboard, our customers love the speed, and our booking numbers say the rest.
In this project
The services behind it.
- Travel & Tour Operators websites Travel websites with tour package listings, online booking, secure payments and supplier API integrations that turn visitors into confirmed travellers.
- Web Apps & Portals Custom web apps, booking systems, customer portals and dashboards built with WordPress, headless and modern JavaScript, connected to the tools you already use.
- Website Design & Development Custom, fast and mobile-first websites for small and growing businesses, built on WordPress or Shopify with SEO, tracking and enquiry forms from day one.
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