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pavarotti1980

Original Poster:

6,270 posts

111 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
Bit of a random one.

The wife is obsessed with planning for holidays/city breaks and has books and itineraries for a lot of places that we have been in the last few years. I suggested to her as a side hustle that she uses her planning skills to create pre-made travel itineraries with links to hotels, restaurants, excursions and transport to sell and offer bespoke ones for people to contact her with dates, budgets, preferences etc on the premise that is saves people time planning and trawling through sites for hours.

Plan would be to create them as a type of dashboard instead of PDFs for common UK & European cities (not bargain basement hostel and piss up weekends) and charge a nominal amount for the content which would have suggested sights, food spots etc and a custom google map with pins to help navigate.

Any thoughts on whether this would be of benefit for people who are short on research time or don't enjoy that type of thing? See how pre-made guides go and offer more bespoke holidays/honeymoons at a fixed fee.

EastMidsEng

45 posts

111 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
Bit of a random one.

The wife is obsessed with planning for holidays/city breaks and has books and itineraries for a lot of places that we have been in the last few years. I suggested to her as a side hustle that she uses her planning skills to create pre-made travel itineraries with links to hotels, restaurants, excursions and transport to sell and offer bespoke ones for people to contact her with dates, budgets, preferences etc on the premise that is saves people time planning and trawling through sites for hours.

Plan would be to create them as a type of dashboard instead of PDFs for common UK & European cities (not bargain basement hostel and piss up weekends) and charge a nominal amount for the content which would have suggested sights, food spots etc and a custom google map with pins to help navigate.

Any thoughts on whether this would be of benefit for people who are short on research time or don't enjoy that type of thing? See how pre-made guides go and offer more bespoke holidays/honeymoons at a fixed fee.
I would imagine this is going to be a hard sell when AI can do this, for free, within 2 mins.

There is no need for anyone to be trawling through sites now. Those days are long gone. Your wife would have to be targetting the aging population who may not be familar with AI. Maybe targeting the very very very wealthy older population for very very very bespoke travel itineraries could work but then they already have assiatants for these type of tasks, who will now out-source it to AI.



Edited by EastMidsEng on Tuesday 2nd June 13:17

pavarotti1980

Original Poster:

6,270 posts

111 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
EastMidsEng said:
I would imagine this is going to be a hard sell when AI can do this, for free, within 2 mins.

There is no need for anyone to be trawling through sites now. Those days are long gone. Your wife would have to be targetting the aging population who may not be familar with AI. Maybe targeting the very very very wealthy older population for very very very bespoke travel itineraries could work but then they already have assiatants for these type of tasks, who will now out-source it to AI.



Edited by EastMidsEng on Tuesday 2nd June 13:17
I tried AI for our trip to Japan this year and it was awful. Constant errors and recommended hotels were unavailable for dates inputted hence thinking useful as a side hustle around full time job

EastMidsEng

45 posts

111 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
I tried AI for our trip to Japan this year and it was awful. Constant errors and recommended hotels were unavailable for dates inputted hence thinking useful as a side hustle around full time job
If you can target the UHNW then it may work. Realistically you may only need 1 or 2 of these types customers.

What about if she expands the scope, not just travel, but as an assistant to UHNW families? 1 or 2 families on retainer and I imagine plenty of perks working with these type of people.

Travel guides for your regular joes seems unlikely in my eyes.

Another option is trying to monetize a travel instagram page.

egor110

17,662 posts

230 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
Isn't all this available for free ?

I can go on various forums or Facebook groups and ask where to visit in a certain city, where to eat ( even specify a budget) and I'll get answers for free

joshcowin

7,552 posts

203 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
Lonely planet guides for a few quid available already!

https://shop.lonelyplanet.com/pages/ultimate-guide...

I bought the italy one for £8 in Smiths.

There is a market for the nervous traveller, older traveller who cant carry bags gets stressed with airports ... Kids are too busy.

My in-laws are about to go on a train holiday to Italy, they don't want to cruise and still want to see things. Not wealthy but have money to spend on a decent holiday.

Not sure how you target this market but if she has good links and contacts in the industry she has an advantage over the oldies booking a holiday.

pavarotti1980

Original Poster:

6,270 posts

111 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
I am just trying to think of a way of monetising her obsession to keep her out of mischief while I play golf smile

WH16

8,218 posts

245 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
Bit of a random one.

The wife is obsessed with planning for holidays/city breaks and has books and itineraries for a lot of places that we have been in the last few years. I suggested to her as a side hustle that she uses her planning skills to create pre-made travel itineraries with links to hotels, restaurants, excursions and transport to sell and offer bespoke ones for people to contact her with dates, budgets, preferences etc on the premise that is saves people time planning and trawling through sites for hours.

Plan would be to create them as a type of dashboard instead of PDFs for common UK & European cities (not bargain basement hostel and piss up weekends) and charge a nominal amount for the content which would have suggested sights, food spots etc and a custom google map with pins to help navigate.

Any thoughts on whether this would be of benefit for people who are short on research time or don't enjoy that type of thing? See how pre-made guides go and offer more bespoke holidays/honeymoons at a fixed fee.
I have noticed that a lot of overland-type youtubers create content of beautiful looking scenery and idyllic places to visit, but without revealing where they actually are. You then need to buy their .gpx guides to recreate the trip, or spend a lot of time trying to georeference the stuff in the video. Obviously making the videos takes a lot of time and effort, but it showcases exactly the experience on offer. Perhaps a travelogue like that, but city based rather than overlanding might work? Plenty of excuses to visit the places, and lots of time spent video editing means more golf for you!

pavarotti1980

Original Poster:

6,270 posts

111 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
WH16 said:
I have noticed that a lot of overland-type youtubers create content of beautiful looking scenery and idyllic places to visit, but without revealing where they actually are. You then need to buy their .gpx guides to recreate the trip, or spend a lot of time trying to georeference the stuff in the video. Obviously making the videos takes a lot of time and effort, but it showcases exactly the experience on offer. Perhaps a travelogue like that, but city based rather than overlanding might work? Plenty of excuses to visit the places, and lots of time spent video editing means more golf for you!
I like your thinking. I had thought doing stuff for TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest would be useful

Edited by pavarotti1980 on Tuesday 2nd June 16:54

Riley Blue

23,205 posts

253 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
Similar to this idea, sort of - ish?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

pavarotti1980

Original Poster:

6,270 posts

111 months

Tuesday 2nd June
quotequote all
Riley Blue said:
Similar to this idea, sort of - ish?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Similar. No AI or subscriptions though.

//j17

5,033 posts

250 months

Wednesday 3rd June
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
The wife is obsessed with planning for holidays/city breaks and has books and itineraries for a lot of places that we have been in the last few years. I suggested to her as a side hustle that she uses her planning skills to create pre-made travel itineraries with links to hotels, restaurants, excursions and transport to sell and offer bespoke ones for people to contact her with dates, budgets, preferences etc on the premise that is saves people time planning and trawling through sites for hours.
EastMidsEng said:
I would imagine this is going to be a hard sell when AI can do this, for free, within 2 mins.
A lot will depend how much @pavarotti1980 and their wife go for "ticking off the big sites" vs. "finding hidden gems".

If her guide to a city just has the same "Top 10 Sights" list that flood Trip Advisor and AI will generate (based on those Trip Advisor lists) then there's not really anything unique about it/it's not adding anything new.

However if they are "Ignore <insert 'Top 10' attraction here> and go to <place you found off the beaten path>" then there is a market for them as they are the ones that won't be on everyone else's identikit AI generated itineraries.


If she really gets into it then videos are the best way to go a-la Tokyo Cheapo as they are both more engaging and easier to monetise!

pavarotti1980

Original Poster:

6,270 posts

111 months

Wednesday 3rd June
quotequote all
//j17 said:
A lot will depend how much @pavarotti1980 and their wife go for "ticking off the big sites" vs. "finding hidden gems".

If her guide to a city just has the same "Top 10 Sights" list that flood Trip Advisor and AI will generate (based on those Trip Advisor lists) then there's not really anything unique about it/it's not adding anything new.

However if they are "Ignore <insert 'Top 10' attraction here> and go to <place you found off the beaten path>" then there is a market for them as they are the ones that won't be on everyone else's identikit AI generated itineraries.


If she really gets into it then videos are the best way to go a-la Tokyo Cheapo as they are both more engaging and easier to monetise!
Plan wouldnt be top 50 things to do. 3-5 hotel recommendations, good coffee, pub, food stops on planned routes to "maximise" time. day trip options and all wrapped in a google map with routes, pins for locations etc and ideally wrapped in a Notion (type dashboard) file

Dont think the 50 page PDF is even worth the time creating

egor110

17,662 posts

230 months

Wednesday 3rd June
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
I am just trying to think of a way of monetising her obsession to keep her out of mischief while I play golf smile
Easy, get her to YouTube trips.

joshcowin

7,552 posts

203 months

Thursday 4th June
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
Plan wouldnt be top 50 things to do. 3-5 hotel recommendations, good coffee, pub, food stops on planned routes to "maximise" time. day trip options and all wrapped in a google map with routes, pins for locations etc and ideally wrapped in a Notion (type dashboard) file
It exists, I mentioned it earlier, books and online, Lonely Planet.


pavarotti1980

Original Poster:

6,270 posts

111 months

Thursday 4th June
quotequote all
joshcowin said:
It exists, I mentioned it earlier, books and online, Lonely Planet.
I know you did but. DO you have an extensive collection of them (digital and paper). I find them useful for a little bit of research but then I dont want to read or take a book with me on a trip to carry round all day


Edited by pavarotti1980 on Thursday 4th June 15:39

joshcowin

7,552 posts

203 months

Thursday 4th June
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
I know you did but. DO you have an extensive collection of them (digital and paper). I find them useful for a little bit of research but then I dont want to read or take a book with me on a trip to carry round all day


Edited by pavarotti1980 on Thursday 4th June 15:39
I have a few of the guides yeah, I read them put tags on my google maps and go from there. I completely agree I do not take a book with me!

I think there is value on collating a list of decent hotels in certain areas. It takes ages to find nice modern hotels in Italy for example especially in rural locations.

I have paid extra for personal service from a travel agent before, it ended up being a kuoni package but I didn't know that until it was sent through to me and I didn't feel hard done by as the agent go it spot on. (private tour, decent-ish hotels, not huge money).


pavarotti1980

Original Poster:

6,270 posts

111 months

Thursday 4th June
quotequote all
joshcowin said:
I have a few of the guides yeah, I read them put tags on my google maps and go from there. I completely agree I do not take a book with me!

I think there is value on collating a list of decent hotels in certain areas. It takes ages to find nice modern hotels in Italy for example especially in rural locations.

I have paid extra for personal service from a travel agent before, it ended up being a kuoni package but I didn't know that until it was sent through to me and I didn't feel hard done by as the agent go it spot on. (private tour, decent-ish hotels, not huge money).
effectively that is what she suggested. 1 or 2 areas in a city with 3 hotels in each. handful of good restaurants and suggested walking routes, transport routes/tours and some "hidden gems" which books or guides may not have caught up with. Certainly not big money but enough to take a punt at buying at the price of a 2-3 pints (and then using affiliate links) to be able to book things as required

egor110

17,662 posts

230 months

Thursday 4th June
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
joshcowin said:
It exists, I mentioned it earlier, books and online, Lonely Planet.
I know you did but. DO you have an extensive collection of them (digital and paper). I find them useful for a little bit of research but then I dont want to read or take a book with me on a trip to carry round all day


Edited by pavarotti1980 on Thursday 4th June 15:39
You just pin places on Google maps.