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Could there be a market for alocal version of this? Something like an Uber that takes people to 'arbitrary' restaurants. If not, why would people who will risk flying and hotels but not a "cab" ride and a dinner?
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 ;)
How big is the market for travelers who don't know where they want to go? Could there be a market for alocal version of this? Something like an Uber that takes people to 'arbitrary' restaurants. If not, why would people who will risk flying and hotels but not a "cab" ride and a dinner?
I am not sure if the analogy you draw to a local equivalent (and if that fails, surely this would fail) is entirely fair. It's an area I didn't look into specifically.
For #1 - hotel and flight deals matter the most For #2 - they figure out most of the stuff while on the move and do not want to plan much. they pretty much buy to-fro tickets from their base and figure out everything else on the move.
Monetizing the idea of 'where should i go' looks pretty tough to me. My pals tried a venture wherein based on the region of interest the website would come up with an itinerary, they couldnt do well and had to fold.
Travel industry needs technology and some disruption; it hasn't seen anything 'interesting' other than the known Skyscanner, TripAdvisor, Agoda etc for a long period of time now.
How big is the market for travelers who don't know where they want to go? Could there be a market for alocal version of this? Something like an Uber that takes people to 'arbitrary' restaurants. If not, why would people who will risk flying and hotels but not a "cab" ride and a dinner?
A PhocusWright study from 2010 found that 40% of (EU) travelers that plan their trip online don't have a destination in mind beforehand. I imagine that this number would be slightly higher for a younger demographic (18-35), which we aim to address initially (thinking 'I don't specifically care where I'm going; I just want to see something new'). The European online hotel & flight sale market itself is valued at rough…
My purpose was to drill into what phrases like "not having a destination in mind", "new experience", and "not caring" mean and expose the assumptions about human behavior under pinning them.
It's a thought experiment. The scenario is simple and concrete and reduces the likelihood of wishful thinking about human behavior. By lowering the risk/reward ration, it is easier to see the economic model.
The first question then becomes, why would Ubering to random restaurants work or not work?
And the second question is, how is the market Wanderlust wants to tackle similar to and different from the Ubering to random restaurant market?
A third question, if Ubering to random restaurants is a viable market, given the greater economic activity and higher recurrence of restaurant dining, would it be a more scalable model, and if it isn't what makes Wanderlust's market more scalable?
From my experience, there are 3 kinds of traveller: 1. People who know where they are going for a stipulated period of time 2. People who know which region they are going to over a long period of time 3. People who have taken a sabbatical or couple of years off or have decided that they are going to be on road for a long period of time. For #1 - hotel and flight deals matter the most For #2 - they figure out most of…
As for monetization: we don't plan to rush this. Once we have our recommendation engine built out and fleshed out, we will build business around it. But to optimize for revenue in the short term would probably be to diminish our chances in the long term. We want to prioritize consumer experience over everything else. And then only once we have that ramped up to a good scale, we could leverage the customer relationship to move down the funnel, closer and closer to the transaction itself.
Having said that, we're exploring multiple paths to monetization. For example, we think that Wanderlust will have an interesting advertising opportunity, with 1) high ARPU, 2) high purchase-intent, and 3) a user still open to suggestions (a bit like Pinterest's opportunity). One other stream we're thinking about is offering hotels an annual/monthly flat-fee to be featured on our platform.
From my experience, there are 3 kinds of traveller: 1. People who know where they are going for a stipulated period of time 2. People who know which region they are going to over a long period of time 3. People who have taken a sabbatical or couple of years off or have decided that they are going to be on road for a long period of time. For #1 - hotel and flight deals matter the most For #2 - they figure out most of…
Your characterization of travellers seems a bit off to me. Along those dimensions, there'd be at least two or three other categories of travellers. Not sure how to respond to that. As for monetization: we don't plan to rush this. Once we have our recommendation engine built out and fleshed out, we will build business around it. But to optimize for revenue in the short term would probably be to diminish our chances in…
If you cannot monetize from Day-1, then it's going to be very difficult unless you repivot and change your biz-model; and also, ofcourse if you are not too keen on monetizing itself.
Hotels will not list unless there are network effects. Already there are tonnes of listing services. An average hotel in South East Asia lists in Agoda, TripAdvisor, Booking.com and many more!!
I would recommend this : take a few months off and travel across South East Asia(or atleast Thailand & Vietnam - as they are well connected to Internet) and hear the challenges faced by hotels and guesthouses. You will be surprised to hear what they say. Remember that whole of the Western World descends down in this region to escape winter.
(Call me short-sighted, but making money from Ads is not 'monetization' as per me)
I've been a little confused because I've seen the name "Wanderlust" somewhere before. http://wanderlust.com/ isn't yours is it? If it's not, then I would seriously consider a different name since .com domain name combined with the fact that it has been around a little longer as well as the (almost similar?) "explore something/somewhere" mission. Other than that, your chance is as good as any one's. Good luck!