We introduce Turum, a startup with the goal of revolutionizing the way people travel. With an innovative and technological approach, Turum brings solutions that streamline the booking process and make the travel experience much more practical and convenient. Through the use of APIs and search algorithms, Turum promises to expedite the search for airline tickets and accommodations, providing a 100% personalized service.
Problems
Price fluctuation
The prices of airline tickets and hotel stays go through violent fluctuations over time for various reasons: inflation, demand, fuel prices, the number of empty seats, agreements, and promotions, among others. The effect of this is a highly unpredictable market, which hinders or makes it impossible for many travelers or companies to plan.
The team conducted a series of experiments on Google Flights, from June 15 to June 30, 2023. During the experiment, several points were observed:
In the simulations made, the price differential reached 1070% within a 3-day interval.
In the most extreme situation found, a quote was obtained for two airline tickets from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, considering the trip for the period of July 7 to July 9, 2023. In this scenario, the price that was presented was R$3,682, whereas three days earlier, that same quote would have been R$344, which represents a jump of 1070%.
There is no clear relation between low prices and advance purchase
It was not possible to prove the idea that tickets are necessarily cheaper the further away from the travel date. What was observed according to quotes made from São Paulo to several Brazilian capitals, all considering the period from July 10 to July 16, 2023, were unpredictable fluctuations in which it was impossible to notice any kind of pattern regarding the advance of the purchase.
What travelers say
In March 2023, the group conducted a quantitative survey with 69 travelers with the intention of understanding some habits, particularly concerning trip planning. Some findings are displayed below:
In most cases, travelers begin their planning with the destination.
When asked what they decide first when planning a trip, 62.3% of the surveyed travelers responded that they start with the destination they would like to visit. In second place were the travel dates, with 23.2% of the responses.
Cost-efectiveness is the most important factor.
As for the final choices of travelers, when asked what was the most important factor for them when defining the trip, the majority responded cost-efectiveness.
Most people prefer to purchase hotels and airline tickets separately.
58% of the surveyed claimed to buy airline tickets and hotels separately, rather than purchasing bundled travel packages.
Proposal
There are numerous services, especially online, that seek to monitor airline tickets and hotel prices, compare the lowest ones (Trivago), suggest cheaper dates (Decolar.com), and indicate whether the current price is above or below the average (Google Flights). The market is well-prepared to provide these price data for hotels and airline tickets, and there are widely used platforms that offer comprehensive solutions for travel agencies, such as Moblix and the Amadeus Group. The challenge lies in how to provide the best of this service to the traveler, ensuring that they not only know if they are paying too much or too little but that they always have access to the lowest price.
What if you could dream of the perfect trip, set the price you want to pay for it, relax, and just wait for it to happen?
That's what Turum wants to do for you.
As observed during the research, the travelers' primary criterion is cost-efectiveness, and they typically choose the destination first. With this in mind, Turum has decided to treat these two factors as anchors, and the others as secondary. The agency proposes a platform that gives complete autonomy to its user, allowing them to select a destination, their exact budget, and as many options for dates and times as they desire. All the features work to ensure that the traveler goes exactly where they want to go and pays precisely what they want to pay. The interface encourages financial planning by motivating the customer to save money for their trip and schedule their travels in advance. With all these ideas in mind, a business model canvas was created:
Validation and prototyping
Journey
With the aim of better understanding the challenges that the average middle-class traveler faces and validating the hypothesis built for Turum, the group conducted another survey with travelers of this profile. As a result of this qualitative research, the persona of Laís was created, along with her ideal journey with Turum.
Prototype
Inspired by this ideal journey, a unique interface was proposed, unlike any other travel platforms, which guides the user, page by page, to the moment of purchase and gives them complete control over their trip.
In the flow above, notice how the user can select a period, or multiple periods they consider traveling. The more dates they input, the better their chances of finding a ticket at the price they want to pay. The entire ticket purchase mechanics of Turum are designed with this goal in mind: making the ticket available at the user's target price.
Furthermore, on the 'Por qual valor' screen, Turum introduces another unique feature not found in other platforms. A quick estimate is made of the highest and lowest prices offered for the ticket the user has configured in the last 30 days. These two prices are placed on a horizontal bar and guide the user's budget. Turum always suggests a target price based on the user's settings, but they are free to set the budget as they wish.
In the end, the user has the option to instantly purchase at the lowest available price at that moment across all airlines, or proceed with the configuration and launch an automatic purchase order, which will only be executed when Turum finds a trip under those exact conditions.
Thank you!