Not In The Guidebooks

Idea

Introduction

Post Covid, research shows people will avoid over-crowded hotspots. Instead, they’ll be looking for more individual, experiential trips that are more responsible and eco-friendly. Which is why we are uniquely positioned for growth coming out of this crisis.

At Not in the Guidebooks, we've curated a catalogue of the best local experiences from across the world. Each one is created by a local host, who is passionate about their home and keen to share its best kept secrets. It’s not just about seeing somewhere new – we help travellers experience brand new places through the eyes of the people that live there. Meet the locals, taste the food, and get right under the skin of somewhere new to make unforgettable memories.

By connecting travellers with local hosts, we save them hours spent searching for the most exciting part of their holiday. Whether they’re looking for a private trip or a group experience, a whole two-weeks away or a two-hour taste of something local, our experiences are unique, modular, and super flexible, so they can fit into any itinerary. It’s local travel. Just easier.

Substantial accomplishments to date

ACTIVITIES:

- Raised £250,000 seed funding to build our platform and connect with local partners. Travellers can book directly through us. Agents can access the experiences to design experiential holidays.

- Contracted agent partners including British Airways, Mid counties Co-Op, Spear Travel, NHS health service discounts, and Intele Travel, alongside many others. We are in the unique position of being the only partner to the trade, based on our market research, providing exclusively authentic, local, responsible experiences.

- Sourced over 500 carefully selected hosts. We are set up as a global collective, ensuring 10% of the company goes to our local partners, so they have a share in our success.

- Acquired and integrated Go Learn To, an experiential holiday provider focusing on immersive learning experiences.

REVENUE:

- Tracking between £1,000 and £2,000 monthly in 2019.*

- January 2020 - £21,000.*

- February £30,000.*

- Bookings of £35,000 in March pre-Covid.*

SINCE MARCH:

- Utilised lockdown to full effect. Conducted extensive customer research to inform a complete website re-design to ensure it looks appealing, is intuitive and user-friendly.

- Increased product offering with access to live availability platforms selecting authentic experiences that are on brand.

- Recently presented to over 1,000 travel agents, and have already started taking bookings across the UK, Ireland, and for Europe for later this year and into 2021.

- Agreed promotion with Coop food stores to promote travel through their member benefits.

Monetisation strategy

Customers and Agents book experiences directly on our website.

Direct Customers use our payment system and we take 20% fee paying the local operator 80%.

We provide access to hundreds of quality authentic experiences to travel agents who create bespoke holiday packages. The revenue model here is that they market our experiences to their customers and we share the 20% fee - 10% going to the agent.

Use of proceeds

-Build a small team to create content including inspirational video content and source new experiences

-Secure new partnerships, service the existing trade partners and create a communications programme to inspire them to spread the word to their customers, helping to grow our reach and drive sales.

-Build consumer brand awareness with strong social media presence, PR, targeted advertising leading to direct to consumer sales

-Develop the technology with GEO location & live availability, app based voucher system with all necessary documentations for the experience with beautifully designed trip itinerary.

* based on unaudited management accounts