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> but what to actually see/do/eat/drink when you're there I assume this would be high-end, correct? As in, it's based on the client's preferences - someone who

> but what to actually see/do/eat/drink when you're there I assume this would be high-end, correct? As in, it's based on the client's preferences - someone who's willing to pay for that kind of attention to detail. I would also assume the information is delivered by some sort of tour guide (though a thorough-enough app could work here, too). I was just in Italy and during the Roman part, I divided my time into sightseeing (75%) for the first week and relaxation (25%) for a few days after. The former, while beautiful, was monotonous and tiresome, and the latter was a slice of heaven. My enjoyment of the two, percentage-wise, was the inverse of how much time I spent on each. Which is to say, the relaxation part (which consisted of hiding away in a Roman neighborhood and only interacting with Italians, in Italian) was way nicer than the sightseeing.

SmellTheGlove 10y ago
Mid- to high-end is my target, but it really depends on preferences. I'm generally not going to take care of flights unless it's an award booking, and I'd have a separate fee for that. I can take a budget and suggest accommodations, but I don't want to dip into low end because the low end budgets I've worked with had mid/high expectations and that's sometimes impossible. Delivery is flexible: My default is a PDF with a daily list of suggestions, plus some maps to find your way, and anything interesting/relevant that I can add based on what I know of the client. Others plan to be online, so I go over how to get a SIM and service closest to the point of arrival, and also send everything electronically - particularly useful with the maps, since they're Google Maps based. I'm considering adding a Slack channel to ask questions, but I can't come up with a reasonable SLA on responses other than "best efforts". This is basically for the crowd that is willing to pay a bit to filter out the noise in the online reviews and arrive at a plan so that they can go enjoy, whatever enjoyable means to them I work with. I also do pretty well with families with children. That said, I am planning for an initial consult, phone, IM, whatever is easiest for the client. We through length of trip, pace, preferences/travel style and budget. I come back with suggested accommodations, things to see and do, where to eat. I'm trying to stick to Italy because I've traveled it a bunch, Italian is my first language and I still speak a couple of dialects, and I have a pretty solid network of folks there who can help me fill in the gaps on what's good, what's a tourist trap, and what used to be good but has become a tourist trap (that last category sucks). Totally custom, though, meaning I'm not running out the same PDF for each city or anything. While I do project initially to get a lot of Rome-Florence-Venice first timers, which is great, I'm hoping I can help some repeat clients with trips in the South, which is massively under-explored by American tourists. Your travel style sounds a lot like mine. So far I've mostly worked with clients that want to basically live somewhere else for a couple of weeks. For instance, in Rome I'd probably suggest a couple of AirBnbs in Monti, a neighborhood close to the sights but not really touristy, or out in Trastevere if you're cooler than me and don't mind crossing the river to see stuff. And food recs for each day, as well as how to score a reservation, etc. For some I get more hands on and do some of the legwork, but I'm leaving that out of the MVP for the web presence. I'll do a ShowHN once I get the technical side to look better than shit.
- personlurking 10y ago
  Sounds interesting. A few years back, I wrote down a travel guide app idea here on HN which describes some functionality that might be of interest to you. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7617048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7617048 My one fear, as far as what you're describing, is that making every single trip customized would require a lot of your time (assuming you're also managing the business end). But, that being said, it's of course possible to create client types/profiles with the data already plugged in. For ex, "High-end Adventurous" which would then be matched up with the City profile. The initial consult could work in tandem with the "data-driven" side, sort of like how translators use Translation Memory programs to ease the load. In bocca al lupo, mi sembra un'idea figa.

SmellTheGlove 10y ago

Mid- to high-end is my target, but it really depends on preferences. I'm generally not going to take care of flights unless it's an award booking, and I'd have a separate fee for that. I can take a budget and suggest accommodations, but I don't want to dip into low end because the low end budgets I've worked with had mid/high expectations and that's sometimes impossible. Delivery is flexible: My default is a PDF with a daily list of suggestions, plus some maps to find your way, and anything interesting/relevant that I can add based on what I know of the client. Others plan to be online, so I go over how to get a SIM and service closest to the point of arrival, and also send everything electronically - particularly useful with the maps, since they're Google Maps based. I'm considering adding a Slack channel to ask questions, but I can't come up with a reasonable SLA on responses other than "best efforts". This is basically for the crowd that is willing to pay a bit to filter out the noise in the online reviews and arrive at a plan so that they can go enjoy, whatever enjoyable means to them I work with. I also do pretty well with families with children. That said, I am planning for an initial consult, phone, IM, whatever is easiest for the client. We through length of trip, pace, preferences/travel style and budget. I come back with suggested accommodations, things to see and do, where to eat. I'm trying to stick to Italy because I've traveled it a bunch, Italian is my first language and I still speak a couple of dialects, and I have a pretty solid network of folks there who can help me fill in the gaps on what's good, what's a tourist trap, and what used to be good but has become a tourist trap (that last category sucks). Totally custom, though, meaning I'm not running out the same PDF for each city or anything. While I do project initially to get a lot of Rome-Florence-Venice first timers, which is great, I'm hoping I can help some repeat clients with trips in the South, which is massively under-explored by American tourists. Your travel style sounds a lot like mine. So far I've mostly worked with clients that want to basically live somewhere else for a couple of weeks. For instance, in Rome I'd probably suggest a couple of AirBnbs in Monti, a neighborhood close to the sights but not really touristy, or out in Trastevere if you're cooler than me and don't mind crossing the river to see stuff. And food recs for each day, as well as how to score a reservation, etc. For some I get more hands on and do some of the legwork, but I'm leaving that out of the MVP for the web presence. I'll do a ShowHN once I get the technical side to look better than shit.

personlurking 10y ago
Sounds interesting. A few years back, I wrote down a travel guide app idea here on HN which describes some functionality that might be of interest to you. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7617048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7617048 My one fear, as far as what you're describing, is that making every single trip customized would require a lot of your time (assuming you're also managing the business end). But, that being said, it's of course possible to create client types/profiles with the data already plugged in. For ex, "High-end Adventurous" which would then be matched up with the City profile. The initial consult could work in tandem with the "data-driven" side, sort of like how translators use Translation Memory programs to ease the load. In bocca al lupo, mi sembra un'idea figa.