Transforming fan travel and boosting conversions
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15%
Increase in revenue after three months
25%
Increase in checkout click-through rate
70%
Total reduction in cloud hosting costs
TL;DR
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Elite Sports Tours, a sports travel booking platform, had an outdated UI, poor checkout conversion, slow builds and unsustainable AWS costs, and needed an agency and affiliate model.
We redesigned the platform in React and Next.js, rebuilt the backend on Node.js, Express, Prisma and PostgreSQL, built an agency portal, and moved hosting from ECS to AWS Amplify.
Revenue rose 15% in three months, checkout click-through 25%, and cloud hosting costs fell 70%.
Elite Sports Tours is a sports-first travel platform where fans buy event tickets and book hotels, with flights coming, in one bundled booking. Packages carry special discounts and simplify group bookings.
It partnered with Islands to rebuild the platform end to end: design, development and a data-driven scaling phase.
The challenges
The platform was limited on several fronts at once.
1. Low-engagement UI and checkout
2. A new business model
3. Slow builds and complex integrations
Build times were slow and third-party integrations were complex.
4. Unsustainable hosting costs
AWS costs limited scalability and performance.
What we built
1. Design phase
A two-month design phase produced a modern interface in React and Next.js, new features such as flight booking for future integration, and a streamlined journey from landing page to checkout.
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2. Development phase
The front end got a responsive interface with an improved landing page and checkout flow. The back end was rebuilt on Node.js, Express and Prisma with a scalable PostgreSQL database. A new agency platform lets agencies book packages, track commissions and manage bookings through a dedicated portal.
3. Scaling phase
June was integrated to track key metrics. Monitoring user behavior at every step of checkout exposed friction points, and reworking the flow delivered a 7× improvement in checkout conversions.
4. An API-first product
Ticket Evolution supplies event tickets, Expedia supplies hotels, and an Amadeus integration for flights is coming, giving real-time availability and pricing.
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Conclusion
Revenue rose 15% within three months of launch, measured in June.so, and checkout click-through rose 25%. Moving from ECS to AWS Amplify cut hosting costs by 70%, about $300 to $400 a month. Build times dropped from 30 to 10 minutes, and Next.js middleware strengthened security for sensitive data. Agencies save an average of 15 minutes per customer in call time.
Next: flights through Amadeus, refundable orders via Protect Group, and auctions for exclusive events and memorabilia. Get in touch.
15%
Increase in revenue after three months
25%
Increase in checkout click-through rate
70%
Total reduction in cloud hosting costs
Use case: travel, booking, event ticketing | Industry: sports
Front end: React, Next.js | Back end: Node.js, Express, Prisma, PostgreSQL
Hosting: AWS Amplify (from ECS) | Analytics: June
Integrations: Ticket Evolution, Expedia, Amadeus (upcoming)
FAQ
How do you raise checkout conversion on a booking platform?
Track behavior at every checkout step, find the friction points and rework the flow. On Elite Sports Tours that gave a 7× improvement in checkout conversions.
How did Elite Sports Tours cut hosting costs by 70%?
By migrating from ECS to AWS Amplify, saving about $300 to $400 a month.
How does an API-first travel platform get real-time pricing?
Through integrations: Ticket Evolution for tickets, Expedia for hotels and Amadeus for flights.
How were build times reduced?
Restructuring the build process and optimizing API calls cut build times from 30 to 10 minutes.
Node.js, Prisma, PostgreSQL
AWS Amplify
Read more
You’re all set!
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