Rethinking travel planning and scheduling

We have all traveled or at least thought about traveling some time in our entire existence. Don't get me wrong, traveling can be the most therapeutic and relaxing things to do, but the hustle that comes with planning a travel adventure is very hectic. With the covid19 pandemic, however, traveling has greatly been affected but is slowly making a comeback.

It is because of this that we have seen the rise of myriads of tour and travel companies that all offer tour packages for the common folk to choose from, or if you'd prefer, some offer a custom tour package but at a higher fee.

The problems at hand

The current problem at hand with the way tour and travel is currently handled, especially in Kenya, is that it is too manual and hectic.

1. If you need a custom tour planned for you, the tour becomes slightly expensive. This is usually because you have to pay a lot of middlemen and the tour and travel company is in it for the profits so they'll add a small fee on top. This is fine but it also limits you to follow a predefined set of adventures and timings.
2. If you decide to pick a tour package, then you have to follow along with all their timelines, get saddled along with people you do not know and also have to do as is depicted in the package specifications. Don't get me wrong, meeting up with new people can be fun but it can be annoying as well.
3. Monotony of destinations. It seems as if all tour and travel companies share the exact same places. If you ask anyone who says they love traveling, they'll most probably mention to you the same tour destination places and the same tourist spots. The hidden gems in a city are almost never explored unless you have an experienced tour guide who accidentally allows you to tour such areas.
4. If you decide to organize a trip with your friends and/or family, chances are you'll probably prefer to look for someone to plan it for you. Either the dates you're trying to fit your travel itinerary into are not compatible with your partner or the transport and accommodation logistics are too hectic that it's not worth the time, money and effort to plan it yourself.

Sort of solution?

What if, somehow, we could build a community of travelers where people share their discoveries, plans, itineraries and adventures? Imagine an app where you could essentially plan your vacations and share your itinerary with friends and family allowing them to comment on the current plan at hand. You could essentially book, and plan all of your travel journeys through the app or save yourself the hustle and pick one of the offers from various tour and travel packages provided. Depending on your interests, the application could also generate for you a tour and travel itinerary automatically that aligns with your interests.

The features of such an app would include:

1. Create an itinerary and share the details with your friends and family allowing them to comment and offer suggestions on what can be changed to make the trip a success
2. View stories and pictures of other travelers, offering you an insight into the hidden gems that can be found in certain cities.
3. Receive an average cost of how much you'd need to make your trip a success.
4. Be able to book into hotels and Airbnb's, book plane, bus and train tickets all straight from the app.
5. Pick from various tour and travel packages and enjoy a trip with strangers in case you prefer not to travel with people you know.
6. Give reviews on specific hotels, destinations allowing others to receive an insight of what to expect from different institutions and tour destinations.
7. Create a bucketlist and tick out the things that you've managed to actually complete.
8. Eventually, offer free trips to users of the platform randomly and cashback through projects such as the Ariva token.

When will such a solution be ready?

That is a pretty good question, I'm also not sure. Once I am done procrastinating, I might get started on the base of the application and see how it goes. Once I get motivated to start, it will be over in no time, I hope. So stay tuned for more news on the project's progress. The design is usually the biggest issue with such a project but we'll see how it goes.