3
21 Comments

Would you pay for a hand-curated trip plan?

Hi Indie Hackers!

I have the idea for the consulting service where I'd provide people with ready-to-use trip plans which would include a researched set of places to visit, restaurants to eat in, and sights to see.

All of that would be based on the initial survey a person would have to fill up front, as well as, the research, and personal experience.

The premise is that there are tons of generated and generic trip plans that never really suit your plans and it takes a lot of time to do a research on a city/country you'll be visiting.

What are your thoughts on such a service?
Would you use it?

Thanks in advance!

#idea-validation

  1. 2

    No - I personally love planning for my own trip and making friends on the way there (a lot of trip planning for me are spontaneous and are done on the road)

    1. 1

      Same, I plan my own trips as part of the trip experience. I recall in learning in economics long ago that for most people their happiness is highest before the trip (planning/talking about it) than during or after the trip.

    2. 1

      The same!
      Another thing is I'm very picky regarding traveling so there is no ready-to-use plan in the world that would satisfy me :))))

      1. 1

        Thanks for your feedback @jna @cosimo @Zencentric Personally, I also love planning every trip I make and that's why I'd love to use that "skill" to make it easier for others. Yet, even though I like the process, I know how much research- and planning-based this task is. Thus, I bet there will be people who would rather pay for it to be done.

        Once again, thanks for your response!

  2. 2

    I would! I don't know how much, but as I get older the less excited I get with trying to find the time to do all the research.

    And actually, just to add to this, I know people who are anxious travellers, myself included at times. Stuff like this could be really good for them. People often stress over the seemingly little things.

    1. 1

      I second that.

      As I enter my 30s (actually it is my birthday today!) the planning part is becoming a bit less interesting.

      Maybe (maybe) because there is so much information out there and you want to make sure you will not be wasting your time on a lesser attraction....so we waste time researching if said attraction is worth it.

      1. 1

        Thanks, @rosiesherry and @esejuan for your feedback.

        That's what comes to my mind when I think of people who would like to use such a service. The information overload is real and to create a sufficient plan that will suit one's needs you have to really put in some work.

        Once again, thank you, such answers are so valuable when it comes to the process of validation!

  3. 1

    No, but you're asking the wrong group. I worked with a company that does what you're talking about. They were about 40 or so people and seemed very profitable. The demographic is 50+ especially internationally people coming for a once in a lifetime experience. You can plan their whole trip and mark it up considerably. You'll likely need a lot of high touch sales for these people, not just a quick survey.

    I think that might be a bit of a different direction then exactly what you were looking for, but I hope that helps.

    1. 1

      I see. Yup, what you are talking about would be much more about direct consulting than just a survey->work->handout process.

      Yet, as you've mentioned, the stakes would be much higher.

      Thanks! I'll take that into consideration.

  4. 1

    I'm working on a similar concept. Providing a tour planning tool that allows people to share their plans and get some crowdsourced suggestions for how to refine them. If you make your tour public then others will be able to copy it and modify it to suit their own desires.

    An early example here (my tour planner is half-built behind the scenes): https://www.tourjackers.com/tours/100

    1. 1

      That's a really cool concept.

      Yet, I was thinking about a more personal and consulting-based approach whereas people would get ready-to-use trip plan based on their preferences (by contrast to a self-used tool).

      Thanks for your feedback!

  5. 1

    Once my airbnb host gave me a hand curated list of places to visit in Brussels. It was my first time in Brussels. I followed the list and loved the experience. Later I found out that she was doing their beta test on me. They are working on this thing: https://www.use-it.travel/home

    For places I know nothing about I would probably go with a curated list.

    1. 1

      Wow, really cool concept.
      I'll use it next time I visit a city covered by the service.

  6. 1

    Do you mean for vacations? Or for business travel?

    In a previous role, I traveled quite a bit, internationally and without a PA to organize/research things for me.

    I would have liked a service which gave me a great trip plan. Ideally, a full service that would do a decent job of booking (and re-booking) flights and accommodation also.

    • Find good, interesting hotels, not boring chains
    • Get flights that really match my preferences
    • Provide a daily itinerary, derived from my calendar
      • Suggestions for each meal, according to my preferences and who I'm meeting
      • Suggestions for after work bar / pub / cafe
      • Best local drinks and dishes to try
      • Alternatives "quick and quiet", "local color", "impress the client", etc
      • Local gym, run routes, bike ride and rental, etc
    • Provide a summary of local topics.
      • Quick local history and some points of interest
      • Sports, teams, progress of seasons, events during my stay
      • Cultural events on during my stay: concerts, exhibitions, etc
    • For each location, have the backup list:
      • Phone / laptop replacement and accessories
      • Tailor, cobbler, express laundry, early/late clothes shops
      • Doctor, dentist, optician, remedial massage, etc

    I'd like an up-front gathering of preferences, and then learning from past trips to refine the understanding of my preferences.

    Ideally, it would be automated (or at least appear that way), discreet, available 24/7, and have basically instant response time (ie. rebuild my trip in a couple of minutes when I need to add a new city tomorrow).

    If this was well done, I would easily pay 20-30% of the trip cost for the service.

    1. 1

      Thank you for such a comprehensive response.

      What you're referring to is more like a concierge-service while I was thinking solely (at least for the MVP) as a trip plans service. Thus, I wouldn't go into booking a hotel or flights but could search for them.

      Yet, that's also an interesting standpoint as you can surely 'get more' per trip for such services. I'll sure keep that in mind and use it when creating a more complete concept.

      Thanks!

  7. 1

    I'd prefer an automated one. One I could provide my dates of travel, answer a few questions and get a bunch of recommendations.

    For example: I like local food, good cocktails, most popular sites, historical sites and nature. With that info, it seems possible to give a decent iternerary. If I needed to find someone and pay them for their time to do it, I'd just research it myself. If I could get a response in minutes, I'd pay a buck or two for it. Anything else I would just do it myself.

    1. 1

      I was also thinking about the automated tool, yet, in such a case a person would still have to do the job on their own. While - in regards to this concept - I was thinking more about people who would like to get it all outsourced and would be happy with a ready-to-use trip plan.

      Thanks for your feedback!

  8. 1

    I am sure this idea has popped in my (and others') head more than once. Actually I am seeing it here in my personal notebook, as I type this comment.

    Go for it. I would love for someone with the skills to finally make this product.

    1. 1

      If someone else has it's on his/her mind then there must be something about it :p

      Thank you for the feedback!

    1. 1

      Honestly, that's not really the concept I was thinking about or referring to.

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 47 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 27 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments How I Launched FrontendEase 13 comments