SOCIAL INNOVATION

Social purpose statement: 

Transform Tourism into a more accessible, convenient, and adventurous industry. 

Social Challenge: 

After the pandemic, the world is now under a negative impact on social life such as an increase in the unemployment rate, and a drop of 32 million employees between 2019 and 2020. Also, there is a dramatic increase rate of people traveling up to 13.5%, after a big drop in 2020. With that being said, traveling is still one of the highest demands in our civilization. However, the budget spent for traveling has recognized a big drop when compared to other years before Covid, with almost $270B between 2015 and 2022. With a high unemployment rate, high demand for traveling, and a decrease in budget spending, Planago predicts that there will be a need for people to earn extra income to afford their demand, yet they will tend to spend less on each traveling trip. Therefore, creating a platform for users to not only make extra income but also lower the cost of traveling and from that satisfy their demand, has become our priority.

Solution Idea:

Our project aims to develop a tourist application, called Planago, which allows users to make extra income, create more jobs, and cut down the cost of traveling. First, by providing the opportunity for trip planners to promote their plans, Planago helps them to earn income through their own creativity and services. Also, Planago will help small businesses like restaurants and small attraction places to promote their destination by sharing information on our platform, which allow them to earn more and create more jobs for society. Moreover, since each trip planner will have their own plan, so technically each is a small traveling agency, and yet will be exempt from costs like office rent and permanent employees’ salary. These reducing costs will eventually cut down costs for travelers and enhance services since the competition level will now be higher, as the barrier of entry drops.

Contribution to UN goals:

Goal #1: Planago makes it possible for everyone to become a tour guide in their area based on the knowledge they have about where they live, which creates more jobs, brings extra income for local residents, and helps reduce poverty.

Goal #4: Our travel App offers users to experience and learn about different cultures, languages, histories, and landmarks all around the world. Users can also share their knowledge with other travelers. This helps ensure access to education and experiences in the tourism industry.

Goal #5: Since this job is mainly based on people’s creativity, it is suitable for both women and men to apply for it. Therefore the success of Planago will create more jobs and choices for women, supporting gender equality, especially in minority groups.

Goal #8: Planago can help users become local travel service providers through our platform, which creates supplemental income. Our app also strengthens links between tourism service providers and local businesses to create job opportunities for local people.

Goal #9: Our travel App can provide users with tools and resources to easily search and book travel-related services, thereby helping to improve restrictions and promote more innovation in the tourism industry. Planago helps push toward sustainable and responsible tourism.