We envision GroupTrav as an online service to help individuals plan trips together. It will be a web site with the tools needed for a group to collaborate, plan, and book travel arrangements. GroupTrav will be a no-hassle alternative to using multiple web sites or the expense of a traditional, group travel agent.
Who
GroupTrav was born of an idea to facilitate group travel planning by Jeana Salman, a graduate student at Westminster College. She has been collaborating fellow students, instructors, and mentors to develop a business plan. GroupTrav is a work in progress and a part-time experiment. We hope to expand the site over time to meet the needs of groups.
Why
Group travel planning can be incredibly tedious and difficult. Being the trip leader is a painful job because one has to survey, mediate, delegate, plan, and provide accountability. Tools to do these things are available, but spread across many web sites and software programs. GroupTrav will solve this problem by providing a central location for group members to share preferences, contribute to the trip fund, and plan a successful trip.
How it will work
A trip leader will set up the initial trip profile. The profile will accommodate surveys to choose dates, location, budget, and more. Group members can sign on to indicate their preferences. A discussion board will allow everyone to post ideas and opinions. Based on a consensus, the whole group can see hotels and activities that match their criteria. They can contribute money directly on the site, making bookings easy for the trip leader. The site can display hotels that specialize in large groups for different event types. Finally, once the itinerary is decided, group members can print customized invitations or flyers with all the important information.
Ultimately, it is desirable to have a related application in popular social networking sites such as Facebook, which will integrate the group interaction experience across both sites.
If you have ideas or feedback for GroupTrav, please contact us.
A Case Study: The Bennion Family Reunion
Decisions to be made about:
Date
Location
Budget
48 adults, 16 children
24 rooms needed
Members spread across 5 states
In 2010, the trip leader for the long running, Bennion Family Reunion, had passed away. The group was on its own to plan the annual three day trip. But, a new plan was needed. Things had changed since the tradition began over 30 years ago. A generation of grandchildren were now starting their own families. Their children were babies and toddlers. The adults felt that the hotel they had always used was a bit run down and didn’t have suitable meeting space. The family’s needs had changed and everyone wanted something different. Organizing the trip would prove to be a tremendous task.
Everyone used the internet and most of them were on Facebook or had immediate family members who used Facebook. But the obvious tool, Facebook Events only got the group so far. It was difficult to conduct polls, so another site was used. Even though a budget was decided, it was difficult to collect money so that a block of rooms could be booked together, ensuring that everyone could get a room at the intended hotel. Half a dozen web site tools were used and still little was accomplished.
Gauge interest | Facebook Events |
Determine preferences Pick date Choose budget Decide on location | Surveymonkey |
Research and bookings | Expedia Travelocity Sites specific to region Triphub |
Delegate | Email |
Determine attendance | Evite |
Create maps | Google Maps |
Construct itinerary | Excel |
Communicate trip details | Email, phone |
Collect $$$ | US Mail, PayPal |
Weeks went by and the family struggled to coordinate via phone, email, text, and in person communications. In the end, the family couldn’t decide and it was too late to plan a multi-day event. A day trip was planned. Only half of the intended members showed up because it wasn’t worth travelling from out of state for one day. Next year, they resolved, they would find a better way.
