Matching tour guides with travelers
During my recent visit to Nepal I noticed that the market for mountaineering and hiking is very old-fashioned and inefficient. Travelers fly into the larger cities and are regularly approached by sales agents trying to sell them guided tours. 10+ times per hour happened more than once.
I would like to test whether there is a market for matching up guides and travelers directly. I imagine the MVP as a crossover between light versions of Airbnb and LinkedIn, meaning that guides can build a profile and travelers can rate the experience, plus some basics like membership, authentication and maybe the ability to post content.
Rather that working on the perfect infrastructure for weeks, I was wondering if no code tools could be used for that? I’m quite familiar with Webflow but I feel like this won’t get me very far this time. I have also built apps with HTML/Python/Postgres before but I would really prefer doing it with as little code as possible for speed sakes.
Arne,
Hello. Maybe try AdaloHQ or Glide apps for a mobile experience being that guides and hikers are always on the go and outdoors. Bubble has the marketplace templates for a airbnb kinda store already.
Adalo seems to be the right tool for the job. Thanks for the hint!
I went to Nepal a few years ago, and we looked everything up on TripAdvisor first. It's not perfect and we probably paid a premium, but it works. If you can find a way to guarantee a travelers safety with a reputable company, that might offer an competitive advantage.
As for no-code, you can check out Webflow. Haven't built a full blown app with is, but it looks like it can handle pretty complex customer flows.
Interesting. Did you book everything in advance with agencies then? We were told not to do that because prices were supposedly rip offs. And indeed once we arrived, the negotiation power definitely shifted in our favor.
Stack wise, I will be using Adalo as suggested by @fann30. Webflow is great and I am using it a lot already but it’s not great for enabling interaction between users.
Yes, we booked most things in advanced. I think we paid a deposit to reserve our spot, then when we met them in person, we paid the rest. I actually think you have more leverage before you get there. It's very easy for me to just find another guide if it's just over email. But once I'm in Nepal, it's harder for me to go and research alternatives. Adalo looks sweet, I might try it out for my next project, heh.
Those guys who are approaching you are working directly with tour providers and you can definitely lower the price if you are willing to bargain. Most of them make direct deals with tour owners, getting some commissions and they are able to negotiate since it's their deal.
Keep in mind that big tour operator companies and tour agencies (both online and offline) are taking commissions from 25% up to 50%, so directly negotiating with local tour businesses will definitely give you an edge.
Tripadvisor is doing a mega-scale of what you are planning to do, so don't expect some ground-breaking service or popularity (Being realistic, sorry). You also have players like Expedia, Viator (which is basically Tripadvisor, they got acquired), Orbitz, even airbnb have their own marketplace for local experiences.
All of them have millions of dollars for advertising and teams of professional designers, copywriters and marketing experts, all around reviews and psychology triggers is sorted long time ago, not leaving a lot of space for others.