Please describe your proposed solution
Introduction
Travel & Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world, as it contributes towards 10.3% of global GDP and employs roughly 300 million people (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2021). We believe that the industry presents a large opportunity for Cardano to gain mass adoption, not only because of the industry's size but also because of the level of consumer interest in the sector.
That being said, accessibility to travel is a problem. At the very peak of travel in 2019, only 18.9% of the world’s population travelled abroad (Statista, 2022); and if we were to use America as the marker, who are largely considered to be among the most well-travelled citizens, only four in ten U.S natives planned a trip locally or otherwise in 2019 (AAA Travel Survey, 2019).
If we were to provide a solution that boasts being able to send people on free &/or discounted vacations, what would that do for real world interest in, and adoption for Cardano?
A lot!
How will the Travel Club Work?
We intend to contribute to the solution of accessible travel by using three models:
Model A/Travel Grants - From the Travel Club's economic activities (NFT/membership sales, tourist board sponsorships & a small mining facility) the DAO will allocate a portion of the earnings towards travel bursaries. Bursaries are distributed via a smart contract that executes decisions based on a relative majority vote from the community. The idea here is that successful applicants get an all expenses paid vacation of up to the ADA equivalent of $1800 USD. This model is very unique and offers the project the kind of marketing leverage needed to get the mainstream travel media & community's attention.
Winners are chosen once a month.
Model B/Community Owned Property - After establishing proof of concept, the idea is to allocate funds from utility token sales, to acquire or build an Air BNB that is both self sustaining (as rooms will be sold to travelers outside the community) and member-rewarding, as there will be dedicated accommodation, set up for member use (for free or at a discount).
The intention is also to optimize the model so that rooms sold or rented to the wider public can cover expenses and allow for member-allotted accommodation to remain free, or at worst, discounted. Additionally, the average occupancy rate is approximately 70%; and so with proper planning, that unused room space can also be given to the community as well.
Model C/Third Party Partnerships - <u>This is the model that scales</u>. The intent is to partner with third parties internationally to pass off their owned experiences (think restaurants, hotels & attractions) at a discount to our members through token gated "e-vouchers". The relationship is formed on the premise that they get marketing value (exposure to our community to help sell unsold inventory) and that this happens only on the basis that the community gets the best rates. This scales well - proven by other active and profitable organisations like Guztazos.
Who will the project engage?
Our stakeholders are as follows:
Members (Phase 1 & 2) - Persons that purchase a travel pass and/or a utility token (To comprise of mostly the Cardano NFT & wider Cardano Community in the short run)
Members (Phase 3) - Persons that purchase a travel pass and/or a utility token (To comprise of mostly persons from the broader travel community, outside of Cardano, in the medium to long term)
Customers - Persons who want to book our experiences (non-members)
Project Partners - Persons who own experiences and are willing to share in the mission of affordable travel
Keen to note though is that the scope of this grant proposal will fund Cardano Mainnet deployment which will get us through the first two phases of TripHut's road map.
How will we demonstrate impact?
- Membership sales
- Community size
- DAO Participation
- Solution Sentiment
Conclusion
With this plan, we can achieve a first-of-its-kind, token-gated travel club, that is self sustaining, community led, and contributes to accessible travel and ultimately, real world adoption for Cardano!
Keen to note too is that our solution is open source and would provide a reasonably safe alternative for developers and project owners to leverage for their own DAO's, without having to commit the same amount of time and resources we have.
References
Edmonds, E. (2019). AAA*:* Nearly 100 Million Americans Will Embark on Family Vacations this Year: Retrieved from: https://newsroom.aaa.com/2019/03/100-million-americans-will-embark-on-family-vacations/
Statista. (2022). Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 1951 to 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/209334/total-number-of-nternational-tourist-arrivals/
World Travel & Tourism Council. (2021). Global Economic Impact & Trends. Retrieved from:https://wttc.org/Portals/0/Documents/Reports/2021/Global%20Economic%20Impact%20and%20Trends%202021.pdf