One of the major challenge in planning a trip is unavailability of structured data, feedback/reviews from users and most importantly, lack of a one-stop shop that has all the information.
While there are several local sites available, I do see a need for something that’s nationwide.
Bangalore based startup, MustSeeIndia is a travel planner that also enables users to share their travel experience and in the process, build a rich set of information about any tourist spot.
MustseeIndia focuses on two aspects:
- Information: Provide complete and reliable information on all tourist destinations in India (when to go, where to go, booking phone numbers, maps)
- Planning and Sharing: Help travelers in trip planning and collaboratively sharing photos and experiences.
The portal lets you explore tourist places around cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and also has theme based options like Hill stations, Romantic, Beaches, Adventure and Historical.
You can invite your friends, coordinate among them, track the entire discussion and share your travel experience.
What I really like about mustseeindia is the organization of data – for e.g., a tourist place page has relevant info, pictures (from Flickr), related attractions , maps (which is not very relevant) etc. and data is presented in a very easy-to-consume manner.
Having said that, here are a couple of points that they should look at:
- Data: The current data that the site has is quite minimal – to me, a killer dataset would be to have, say location of CCDs between Bangalore-Mysore highway, petrol outlets etc. It’s tough to get this data – and that’s where the opportunity lies (once you have it, all major travel players will license your content)
- Design - The site, though nicely designed has a strong web1.0 feel (could be my personal take).
- User engagement - Somehow, I find the portal lacking in user engagement – unless they have a strong touch point with travelers, people won’t contribute.
- Integration with travel operators (if not now, then in future?)
Overall, I guess the focus is more on content, and less on trip planning. Simple tweaks can do wonders – for instance, the portal should enable one to set a default city and then change the entire context (95% of time, I’d be interested in ‘<Tourist destinations>’ from Bangalore.)
What’s your opinion? Do give MustSeeIndia a spin (use invite code : pluggdin to register) and share your comments.
Very cool concept – and yeah, there is a general fatigue w.r.t the local sites.
my honest f/b – the site looks so web1.0 that i would hv taken it as just another one (if I hadnt seen it here!).
i like the categorization – i guess, there are tons that one can achieve here.
a ‘must-see-startup!:)
There is an interesting concept here for sure. However, I see them making and impact in the rather crowded online travel industry, if they focus on a particular category of travelers for whom there is really not enough information available and for whom they can make it a must see site.
One need I clearly see is that of Indian backpakcers. I think there are bunch of tour operators and sites, who would give information and plan a tour in India for foreigners. Lonely Planet does a fantastic job not just for India, but for all the places for back-packers. However, written with an American audience in mind, it does not work for Indian backpackers. Factual information can be used, but not the ones with opinions. What is “cheap” for example? If it says something is “too crowded” and should be avoided, as an Indian I may actually find it fairly normal or just a bit crowded. Or the definition of bad traffic. They might be harping on the fact that traffic rules are not strictly followed, while what I need to know is if there is a place where they are very strictly followed and hence I need to be cautious!
As a user it would be wonderful for me if they are able to deliver just rich structured as well as unstructured information at one place, with or without bookings etc.
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It is really informative blog. I also love to go on tour when i have holiday at my work.