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If you’re anything like me, the process of compiling an itinerary for the next vacation can quickly spiral into chaos. Across an information overload of reviews sites, travel blogs, and social media influencers often devoid of legitimacy thanks to advertiser incentives, the landscape for discovering travel experiences is rendered cluttered and inauthentic. Conversely, we still rely on and prioritize more heavily the advice of friends who possess the unique ability to identify and document hidden gems during their travels to repurpose as future recommendations. The pertinent question then arises: who are these individuals and how can we create a repository for storing, sharing, and being rewarded for their valuable experiences?
We refer to this subset of traveler as tastemakers given their ability to curate and empower the experiences of others. Unlike your typical influencer whose follower count often eclipses the population of a small country, these folks prioritize lived experience of content creation. The net result is a preference towards this word-of-mouth travel inspiration. According to Neilsen, 88% of consumers place more trust in personal recommendations than influencer marketing, a trend which we’ve found to be even more true in travel where a recommendation from a friend is worth significantly more than a sponsored Instagram post. These are the voices that should be amplified in your travel decision-making.
So, how do tastemakers differ from influencers? Authenticity. They aren’t hustling for free hotel stays or trying to shill you a promo code for 10% off your next museum tour. Their recommendations are powered by actual experiences, not the pursuit for engagement or earnings. The grassroots nature of these recommendations fosters higher trust levels, affirmed by a survey from Expedia, which found that 52% of travelers trust their friends and family the most when it comes to travel advice. It’s these tastemakers in our network we look towards most to unlock the best experiences possible during travel.
Now, if you’re thinking that tapping into this wealth of experiential knowledge sounds as fragmented as the rest of the travel landscape, you’re not wrong. Currently, it’s a pretty manual process of social media outreach, text messages, or even—brace yourselves—phone calls. It’s entirely incongruent with the standard for information sharing in the digital age. What if we could instead house an index of these recommendations in a singular platform, allowing tastemakers to effortlessly document and share their insights as they explore various corners of the world.
This is what we aim to create at MintPass. Our mission is not to reinvent travel. In fact, travel itself in its current form we seek to amplify. What we want to revolutionize is how travel is discovered by creating a hub for tastemakers to impart their recommendations to others by sharing lived experiences. In the process, we plan to democratize travel’s corner of the creator economy by allowing anyone to be a travel influencer simply by collecting digital souvenirs to share where they’ve been and what they’ve done while there. In this way, we will plan to create a more seamless and enriching process for inspiring the next adventure, while recognizing and celebrating our community tastemakers as the catalysts of that inspiration along the way.
MintPass is the ultimate travel inspiration app to discover the next adventure. Collect one-of-a-kind digital souvenirs from every flight you take to share your travels, log your activities as recommendations, and receive rewards for inspiring friends. Sign up for the waitlist today at www.mintpass.com.
