This is a regular roundup of some of the latest mobile application startup launches in travel covering everything from trip inspiration and planning to virtual assistants.
DayPass
What is it?
DayPass lets users explore and book hotel and health club amenities on-demand, around them or at destination. Users can reserve a pool and spa, an all inclusive or a health club moment, on the go, without being a night guest or a member.
Is there a problem you’re trying to solve?
We're helping people live the healthy lifestyle and keep up with their training routine, enjoy quality times and experience luxury treats while traveling.
Hotels have under-utilized amenities that can drive additional revenues, raise brand awareness and lever guest acquisition.
Who’s behind it?
Alexandre Mayol is CEO and co-founder.
Bhaumik Kothari is CTO and co-founder.
What else?
DayPass has curated more than 300 locations that offer great day passes experiences. The company is currently looking for seed capital and travel veteran partners to expand further.
PlanChat
What is it?
The startup is messaging platform which aims to help users to discover, discuss and plan trips or outings as a group. The mobile app aims to solve the pain of trip planning via group messaging that brings everything to a conversation thread.
It is also offering PlanChat for Business, a white-label version of the platform which travel companies can embed on their websites as a planning and chatting service for customers.
Is there a problem you are trying to solve?
Co-founder and CEO Sina Shekou says:
"Planning trips is stressful, even more so when a group is involved. PlanChat makes the process easy with its group messaging platform designed specifically for planning trips and travel destinations. The platform integrates with SMS and email so no one is left out in the planning process, even if they don’t have the app."
Who’s behind it?
Sina Shekou, founder and CEO, of the San Francisco-based startup. Prior to PlanChat, Shekou co-founded Propertyware which was sold to RealPage in 2009.
Anything else?
According to PlanChat the average travel planner spends 45 days visiting 38 different sites for a total of 121 total visits over that period for a single trip. The startup is looking to do away with all the work and make it possible via a single app.
Spot
What is it?
The startup aims to help users find, save and share cool places both in and around where they live as well as across the globe. It describes itself as Instagram/Pinterest meets Yelp/TripAdvisor.
The app uses recommendations from friends and a growing number of expert reviews (currently more than 600,000) to help consumers find great places.
Is there a problem you're trying to solve?
Kelly Lack, content and community lead says:
"Spot is designed to answer the question: “Where should I go?"
It's still too time-consuming to find great spots—especially when you're trying to wade through an unclear rating system and reviews from strangers.
Finding someplace great—whether it's a killer cup of coffee around the corner, the cool new restaurant across town, or an adventure around the world—should feel like fun, not work.
With Spot you can source and keep track of great places in your city and around the world much like you do in real life: pulling from in-the-know friends, experts, and the kind of tastemakers who are into the same things you are, whether dive bars or design shops. Spot is practical and inspirational, a trusted tool and a way to explore."
Who's behind it?
Garrett Camp, a co-founder of Uber, founded Spot.
The team also includes Lack, who is a former travel editor, as well as team members who formerly worked at EventBrite and One Kings Lane.