Personalized Vacations for Lazy Travelers
Booking trips can be a hassle. Occasionally you travel with that hyper-organized friend who has everything booked from the minute you touch down. Most of the time, however, I find myself scrambling for places to stay and then spending hours of valuable vacation time in a hotel googling “Best things to do in X”. Well, the startup I will be reviewing today aims to be that hyper-organized friend that helps you plan your trip from beginning to finish (for a price of course).
Journy (2016)
This is not a typo- it is spelled Journy.
Founded in 2014 by Leiti Hsu and Susan Ho, Journy is a travel service company that creates travel plans for its clients based on the clients’ own individual preferences. In doing so, Journy also takes in the advice from local chefs, sommeliers, and experts in the area to recommend the best restaurants and attractions for it’s clients. As of now, the startup has over $900,000 in seed funding and is under a very experienced leadership team who has extensive experience in restaurant and travel consulting.
The Technology
The service that Journy provides is straightforward. Travelers would first notify Journy of where and when they will be traveling, in addition to their travel interests and preferences. Journy then matches that client to a travel designer, who consults with local experts to design a travel plan that fits well with the clients’ interests. The travel plan would be presented to the clients for any modifications and approval. During their travel, the clients would also be able to communicate with their designer and ask for assistance and advice regarding the travel plan. This basic tier of service costs 25$ per day of travel. Additionally, Journy also offers a more premium service with all booking and reservations included for 50$ a day.
My Perspective
First of all, I really like the idea of having a travel designer. In some ways it is similar to family physicians- someone that knows you well and can provide personal recommendations. However, unlike family physicians, the situation is always rapidly changing as you are likely traveling to different places each time. Depending on which path Journy takes (no pun intended), it may either want to match you with the same travel designer each time — similar to a family doctor- or find a specialist from the particular location you are traveling to. I personally like the first approach. While your travel designer might not know everything about each vacation destination, he/she likely has the resources and connections to ask a local expert for help. The analogy here would be your family doctor finding a weird rash and referring you to a dermatologist.
The Niche Market:
In the travel services market, Journy has many competitors. People have different preferences on exactly how much they want their vacation to be planned. For those that just want advice on a single attraction, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google Maps are the key players. Those that want a bit more of a packaged deal might turn to the recently introduced Airbnb experiences. For those travelers who really hate planning and just want Jesus to take the wheel, this startup is definitely right for them. Thus, it is very important for Journy to leverage its competitive advantage and find that niche market.
The Bottom line:
In the current influx of all different forms of travel services startups, Journy’s success lies in how it will brand itself. Personally, I think that the “family doctor” approach would be very attractive to travelers that have a defined taste but dislike having to extensively plan their vacations. If Journy can accomplish that while charging a reasonable price, then I feel there is a very bright future for these travel designers.
