Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests • Hacker News Board

Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#1

Post by kuisch » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 11:50 AM UTC

Wanderlust is a website that helps you find out where you could travel to based on how much you can spend and what you like to see. A new way to plan and book your trips. An answer to the question of ‘where should I go?’.

The majority of traditional online travel websites (e.g. Booking, SkyScanner) work under the assumption that you know where you’re going. But what if you don’t know this? We don’t always have a destination in mind, but what we typically do have is a general sense of how much we can spend, what we like to see, and when we’d like to travel. Taking these variables into account, Wanderlust provides you with a complete trip - including destination, flight, accommodation, and an overview of the best things to do and see while you’re there.

To be sure, it’s still a little rough around the edges, but here's a quick demo: https://vid.me/TnZL

Our Product Hunt feature a while ago: https://www.producthunt.com/tech/wanderlust-pre-launch

Happy to answer any questions you may have!

(A bit about the team: Technical founder, BSc & MSc in Engineering physics; PHd in Artificial Intelligence. Business founder, Background in Communications; previously at Google, Vodafone.)

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#2

Post by NeatoJn » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 12:53 PM UTC

Wherefor (https://www.wherefor.com/) does provide traveling suggestions based on budget. However I think factoring travelling interests is a nice idea. Maybe there can be more keywords for exploring? I also quite like the minimal design style of the website.

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#3

Post by khalloud » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 12:59 PM UTC

Looks very cool. When do we expect to use it?

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#4

Post by _ak » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 1:00 PM UTC

> The majority of traditional online travel websites (e.g. Booking, SkyScanner) work under the assumption that you know where you’re going. But what if you don’t know this?

Actually, lots of online travel agencies and aggregators have a "discovery/inspiration" phase in their overall booking flow. At most you can say that they're not doing it that well because you didn't recognize it as what it is. Or maybe they are doing it well because the user is just led through their flow and gets interested in certain destinations without realizing he's being influenced.

How much research have you done what existing travel websites have done in these regards?

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#5

Post by kuisch » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 1:03 PM UTC

NeatoJn wrote: post #2

Wherefor ( https://www.wherefor.com/ ) does provide traveling suggestions based on budget. However I think factoring travelling interests is a nice idea. Maybe there can be more keywords for exploring? I also quite like the minimal design style of the website.

Yes, there are definitely others in this space exploring the same angle -- this is our take. And I think a broader category of interests is something we're moving towards, but not our main priority at the moment.

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#6

Post by fitzwatermellow » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 1:07 PM UTC

Good idea to focus on the European market first. So jealous when I hear my EU friends talking about day trips to eat at a new restaurant in Copenhagen, or a long weekend in Istanbul or Corfu ;)

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#7

Post by kuisch » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 1:11 PM UTC

_ak wrote: post #4

> The majority of traditional online travel websites (e.g. Booking, SkyScanner) work under the assumption that you know where you’re going. But what if you don’t know this? Actually, lots of online travel agencies and aggregators have a "discovery/inspiration" phase in their overall booking flow. At most you can say that they're not doing it that well because you didn't recognize it as what it is. Or maybe they are d…

That's fair. To be clear, we're very much aware of the 'inspiration' features that the existing players offer (e.g. kayak.com/explore or booking.com/destinationfinder.html). Perhaps I could have worded it differently.

I do think there's a significant difference between adding the capability onto your core, legacy product line vs. starting from scratch and making it the central focus, the thing the entire venture revolves around. Most travel agencies are still optimized for conversion (i.e. the bottom of the funnel); not for planning.

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#8

Post by kuisch » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 1:12 PM UTC

khalloud wrote: post #3

Looks very cool. When do we expect to use it?

Thank you - we're aiming for the end of April!

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#9

Post by atduarte » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 1:32 PM UTC

Exists already: http://www.tripaya.com/

Re: Apply HN: Wanderlust – Travel recommendations based on your budget and interests

#10

Post by kuisch » Sun, Apr 10, 2016, 1:51 PM UTC

atduarte wrote: post #9

Exists already: http://www.tripaya.com/

I'm familiar with Tripaya. As pointed out earlier, there are a few others with a similar approach. There's no real network effect here, so I expect that 1) there will be less of a winner-takes-all dynamic (i.e. room for more than 1 player) and 2) it won't be so much about who gets there first as about who gets it right.