SOLO TRAVEL IS A HOT TREND, according to Agoda's Solo Travel Trends 2018 survey. In 2018, about 8 million people traveled across borders on a vacation or short holiday. Every fourth of such solo trips was by a traveler going from Asia to Asia. Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Bali, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were among their favourites.
Join Solopacker here Watch video about Solopacker here And these are just the people who took the leap and went solo. There are millions more who have the desire to explore the world solo and are yet to book that trip. The number of people who have done searches related to solo travel is doubling every two years, according to Google Trends.
BUT, THERE IS A PROBLEM. There are countless services to help solo travelers book flights, hotels, find walking tours, event tickets and restaurants. And yet hardly any exist that help them meet fellow travelers. They were given essentially three choices to do so. Try Couchsurfing. Try Online Travel Forums. Try your luck at a hostel. Are these options safe for solo female travelers? Are they connecting us with the right people? Have they had any innovation in last 10 years?
We were not satisfied with the answers to these questions, and in 2019 we thought of a solution that is both convenient and helps build trust among travelers who want to connect. We called it Solopacker, and soon we realised that our dissatisfaction with these options was fairly universal among solo travel lovers.
HERE ARE THEIR TOP 3 REASONS FOR JOINING SOLOPACKER.
1 - FOCUS ON TRUST. Solopacker is not in the business adding as many members as possible at any cost. Kana, a Solopacker from Bangkok, said "these days it is very hard to trust what people put in their profiles and references online". Kana is right. Solopacker has taken a different appraoch to solve the problem of trust. First, only a verified member can invite another traveler to join with a unique, one-time Invite Code (more on How to Join). Second, every member has a 'Approved as Travel Buddy' score, which can be improved only when two members approve each other mutually as travel buddies (more on Approved Travel Buddies). And Third, our proprietary algorithm rewards members who have better Community Rating by increases their chances of getting matched with other travelers.
2 - RESPECT MY PRIVACY. Solopacker is not another profile page to create on social media. Vanessa, a Solopacker from Singapore said "I was quite tired of putting uploading new pictures, maintaining a profile page, posting on forums, only to find myself waiting for replies and responding to creeps instead". She is among many who take their privacy very, very seriously, and Solopacker agees with them. Solopacker members do not need to upload any pictures or create profile pages. Members are matched on their travel preferences, regardless of their background, gender, age or faith. Preferences like what they like to do in their travels, how much they like to spend and the traits they look for in a approved travel buddy. Advanced data analytics help Solopacker to understand your travel personality without breaching your privacy.
3 - ANYWHERE, ANYTIME I WANT. It's 2019. In less than 3 clicks you can book a taxi, order food, buy groceries and shop online anywhere, anytime. Is that same convenience in Couchsurfing or FB travel groups or travel forums? The current platforms may be asleep at the wheel, but Solopacker's team of designers, developers, artists and marketeers, all of whom are solo travelers, know better. Tran, a Solopacker from HCM City, told us "the whole point of solo travel is to have flexibility with your time. I don't want to commit to a local host one week in advance and then cancel if my plans change. I basically stopped sending requests". Good on Tran for respecting others' time over her own convenience. But Solopacker wants to help Tran and other solo travelers who love meeting locals. A traveler can check-in on Solopacker anytime she wants, and use the map interface to find a trusted travel buddy in the location of her choice. We found that making the experience real-time increases others' response time by 85% and doubles the chance of travelers actually meeting up.
This blog is dedicated to the first 3000 community members who believe in Solopacker, and our young team of travel-preneurs from 6 countries who have recently joined Solopacker! =D Join Solopacker here Watch video about Solopacker here