Vacation booking lead by personal needs and sustainability

Backround

Tourism is a major contributor to the climate crisis. Air travel is responsible for 3.5% of global CO2 emissions. If all transportation and distribution chains associated with the tourism sector are included in the calculations, it is even assumed to account for 8% of global CO2 emissions. While in times of the pandemic, the focus suddenly shifted to closer and more accessible places of recovery, the opposite travel behavior was expected in the post-pandemic situation. The general mobility sector is facing various technological, ecological and social changes. In this "leav" project, we investigated the question of what design potential results from these framework conditions and how sustainable travel decisions can be promoted.

According to a survey of the "Greentravel aliance" the mayority of (german) travelers stated that they would like to make their vacation trip sustainable, but only less than 7% really paid attention to sustainability on their last trip.

challenge

Although sustainable booking platforms exist, they are only used by a small percentage of travelers. Making a sustainable travel decision is associated with extra effort and sacrifice. The complexity of tourist activities (type of journey, choice of accommodation, activities and local transportation) also makes it difficult for travellers to plan a holistic environmentally friendly vacation. Established travel providers do not (yet) place sustainability aspects at the heart of their offers, which means there is a lack of transparency. At the same time, only a combination of ecological motivation on the part of travelers and corresponding offers on the part of companies can lead to a climate-friendly result.

Leav starts at the point in the booking process where it is not yet clear where the journey should go. The individual needs of the traveler are placed at the center of the booking process. With Leav, we want to provide more transparency, more obvious opportunities for climate-friendly travel and education and point out tourism destinations that require not necessarilylong journey. LEAV finds what you're looking for by getting to know you and putting together exactly the trip that meets your expectations and is as sustainable as possible.

The name Leav comes from the words leaf and leave. It stands for setting off on a new journey. The competitive analysis showed that many competitors in the sustainability sector are in the green sector and competitors in the tourism sector are in the blue sector. We therefore opted for the primary color turquoise. A mixture of the colors green and blue, fresh, exciting and natural. The areas drawn as turquoise in the logo represent the options travelers can take on their way.

Phase 2 screens

Based on the collected contributions and moods, suggestions for travel packages are compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, that correspond to the collected interests. Individual travel ideas are thus specifically linked to suitable offers. We can already offer a "For you" category in advance, in which it is very likely that the traveler will like a lot. Recommended travel packages can then be booked and it is possible to see how sustainable the trip or various components are compared to other options.

Phase 3

While we are working closely with users in phases 1 and 2, we are expanding our strategy in phase 3 and working more closely with the destinations and companies at the vacation destinations worldwide. These include accommodation providers, restaurants and leisure activity providers. We have collected so much data over the first two phases that we now have the opportunity in phase 3 to advise our Leav partners and develop sustainable concepts with them.

As we know what is important to users, we can make statements about where there is more or less demand of improved offerings. A network of sustainable local companies is being created. Since we know what is important to users, we can make statements about where there should be more or improved offers. We provide active support in certifying companies for participation in our program by developing targeted sustainability concepts based on the data collected.

Buisnessmodell

We finance ourselves in the free version through a freemium model and affiliate marketing. From phase two onwards, we also receive a commission when a booking is made via our platform. The following user groups are also eligible for funding.

RE. Leav

Under the term " RE Leav* we cathegorize our free users, those users who use
our service 'carefree* and "relaxed" (in reference to *to relief'). You can inform yourself with us without obligation and create up to three collections from which travel suggestions are generated. The
travel suggestions can not be saved as
a free user, or booked with us, for the booking process the user is redirected to the respective offer pages.

BE. Leav

Be. Leav describes those users who literally believe in us and are therefore willing to support us with a monthly subscription of 2.99 euros. This allows them to save travel packages in their profile without having to worry. Once they have decided on a trip, they have the option of booking it directly with us via the app in one step. You can compare this cathegorio with an extension to a Pro subscription of conventional apps.

WE. Leav

We, Ledv describe the offer to use our Pro service as a group for a reduced discounted monthly subscription price, at just 5.99 for 4 members, everyone (e.g. a family of 4) can enjoy the benefits of Be.Leav status. In addition, members of the group can easily be added to suggested travel packages and receive a direct direct invitation to join.

Leav. Partners

Leav. Partners is aimed at the companies with which we enter into cooperations. They are part of the ever-growing network that has been built up over time. Leav works closely with the local partners and has an affiliate marketing relationship with them. In phase 3, Leav will add another service, namely the creation of leav. Concepts. for our Leav partners, based on the data we have collected from our users. The so-called leav. Concepts.

About the Process

During the project it was not easy how to aproach the problem due to the difficult combination of sustainability and the travelers expectation. What I really enjoyed was the ideation on how to aproach the problem and how to build up an evolving business behind the service.

Class

Strategische Gestaltung
1. Semester
‍
Strategic management,
Strategic Design
‍
4 Monate
03/2022 - 07/2022

Supervisor

Prof. Dr. Susanne Schade
Prof. Gabriele N. Reichert
Thomas Schönweitz

Team

Isabel Thiel
Merlin Feil
Paula Greitemann

my part

Research,
Strategy & Ideation
UI & UX Design
Businessmodel and Devellopement