About us
The vision
You got an idea to gather your friends and need their OK. Who’s joining? 〰 GROUPnTRAVEL helps you organize your group reservation online.
The product
GROUPnTRAVEL is a direct booking platform for holiday rentals that want to leverage their social media followers to attract friends. GROUPnTRAVEL helps people transform ideas into group reservation events and, unlike online travel agencies, you will confirm your holiday booking with a nonprofit sponsorship.
The business
We are a bootstrapped* startup, originated in Romania and oriented towards sustainability and ESG compliance. We strongly believe that all companies should redirect a percentage of their profit for the planet and the community, and this is the path we follow as a business.
* bootstrapped = a startup with a sustainability based mindset, i.e. one that tries to manage itself without depleting his future resources
Today's figures
Users in the last 12 months | 0 | |
Social causes and nonprofits | 0 | |
Travel Associations | 0 | |
Tourist attractions | 0 | |
Reservation ideas | 0 | |
Holiday rentals | 0 | |
Registered rooms | 0 | |
Currently available rooms | 0 |
GROUPnTRAVEL's reservation ideas are with no charges, both for tourists and for the listed accommodations.
Problem/Solution − The holiday rentals: Why to join GROUPnTRAVEL?
👇 How do you engage and retain the tourists from social media, when you have put in so much effort to reach them? How many of them book after seeing your post? They may keep an idea in their mind, but how do you turn it into a booking?
👇 And when they remember the idea, it still needs to be discussed with friends, planned, confirmed... How do you support them in this process?
👉 GROUPnTRAVEL is doing all that for you, by developing the reservation ideas, that tourists can save as draft, share with friends and colleagues, or request effectively the booking...
👍 And through the confirmation mechanism with the help of sponsorships to your partner organization, each reservation will have its social contribution to the community, thanks to you!
In short, GROUPnTRAVEL can help you turn your social media into a bookings funnel with a community impact.
Our mission statement
We will support nonprofits in developing partnerships with holiday rentals, facilitating fundraising with each group booking made by tourists
... because nonprofits take care of your community, but who's taking care of them?
✨ HOW? — Here are our North Star business objectives
🚀 Give First: a free online alternative for accommodations, avoiding booking platform fees
👥 Loyalty: rewards loyal tourists and social media followers with group booking incentives
💎 Premium: enhances visibility and streamlines reservation process
📈 Growth: aims for sustainable growth with user community
🌍 International: thinking globally, designing a multi-language product, from day 1
🌱 Protecting Nature and Its Creatures: GROUPnTRAVEL offers free Premium package for Vegan Certified 👍 accommodations
🤝 Social: encouragement of sponsorships to non-profits and revenue sharing with team-favorite charities
⚖️ Governance: fair and transparent distribution of revenues based on contribution, www.5-star-planet.org
GROUPnTRAVEL aims to embed as much as possible the ESG principles inside the business DNA. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. ESG is a term used to represent an organization's corporate financial interests that focus mainly on sustainable and ethical impacts.
| Our www.5-star-planet.org commitment for the profit appropriation |
30% for the Contributors favorite Nonprofits
30% for the Working Team by Department
30% for the Founding Contributors
10% for the Capital and Teambuilding
30% for the Working Team by Department
30% for the Founding Contributors
10% for the Capital and Teambuilding
Do you like GROUPnTRAVEL ideas?
Tiny but mighty startup, dreaming big! Let's break the ice and unleash the magic! Drop us a line and sprinkle your brilliance upon us! ✨
Contributors wanted
Passionate contributors wanted! Shape the future of travel and empower nonprofits. Join our startup team now! 🚀 Write to us here, or on LinkedIn and join us in this journey.
With every step you take, you'll be paving the way for a better world, where wanderlust meets philanthropy. So, seize this chance to make a difference, because with us, you won't just be changing the way people travel – you'll be changing lives! 🌍✨
Timeline
- 2011
- A thought, an idea, a vision(see on the top) on a November day.
- 2012 − 2016
- First email sent (sometime around March).
- We establish the WHAT: “Turist Fidel” a travel loyalty program with group benefits, something like 3 + 1 rooms.
- Starting the planning. Thinking about a flow, the Powerpoint rules, checking what's on the market, establishing technologies, doing some costs calculations and starting to document it.
- Developing the first pillar of the platform, the accommodation booking calendar. We integrate Facebook Login.
- Sometime around 2015 we finally settle on the name: GROUPnTRAVEL. At this point, we're still flirting with the idea of chatting up investors. Take a look at 📃 our first White Paper (2015).
- Moving to a dedicated hosted server. Developing the second important pillar of the platform, which is booking estimation. We continue the integration with Facebook (Pages, Likes, Events, Places etc.). We are finalizing the first version of the booking process.
- Going live. We've chosen to keep things old school – no fancy shortcuts or financial boosts. Just good ol' bootstrapping, sprinkled with a dash of hard work and a pinch of fun!
- 2017 − 2018
- Launching the first email campaign, inviting the first accommodations to register and try the platform.
- Thinking of developing the tourism packages and the loyalty concept. We are adding the Offers. The direction is not very clear, the loyalty program is postponed until we get enough platform traction.
- We integrate login with Gmail and Google Maps queries. Canceling all Facebook integrations (it was a waste of time), keeping Facebook Login only. From now on we will develop just the mandatory integrations.
- Developing the translation mechanism. Started to translate the platform into French, Italian, Spanish and German.
- Implementing security updates and improvements. Trying to find people to join us.
- 2019 − 2021
- We focus on Marketing. Introducing the Reservation Ideas and Travel Agenda.
- Bringing new functionalities for accommodations. Focus on platform optimisation, code quality, reuse and flexibility. Changing the hosting to reduce costs. Integrate with Google Cloud for some configurations.
- Trying to identify the WHY: So our thoughts go to nonprofit organizations. In 2020 we run an awareness email campaign. Surprisingly, we are a travel startup and we are still here. We are looking for a way to confirm reservations. Got it.
- Read the GROUPnTRAVEL's White Paper 📃 Read or download PDF (2021)
- 2022
- This year is about communication and about meeting new people. Launch, the romanian founders community welcomes us and offers us an intense welcome pack of know−how on product development roadmap. Thank you Launch Team for the friendly approach, for the organized events and for the continuous dedicated support.
- With the help of the internet, online events and podcasts we are also landing in the Spring Activator Community, from Canada. It's great to read so many ideas and see people focused on impact and communities development. A true ecosystem whose goal is to activate businesses to act for good, for the planet and people all over the world.
- We focus on Storytelling. We integrate nonprofits. We are getting a great help on the testing side 💙. We integrate Paypal. We drop Paypal after a few months. We integrate Stripe. Much better. We add Push Notifications. The French and Italian translations are almost ready, but we are constantly changing the texts. Thank you for your support, Iulia.
- We establish the company's mission, identity and directions. We plan the HOW: we definitely want to become an ESG-oriented startup, towards equity, transparency and with a well-integrated purpose in the community.
- 2023
- It is set. This year we are officially launching.
- Our commitment to building impactful business is what guides us (our North Star). Each step forward reveals new perspectives. We are excited to introduce www.5-star-planet.org, the equity distribution model designed specifically for bootstrapped (self-sustaining) startups.
Social responsibility and engagement
In GROUPnTRAVEL, we are eager to make the world a better place! That's why we have integrated 🤝 nonprofit organizations everywhere, to support the ones doing good deeds on a business scale! To make profit 💼 for the nonprofit!
Do you think the "private sector" can see beyond profits? Well, we certainly do! Therefore, we have decided to take responsibility and allocate a portion of our future earnings to those organizations ❤️ that dedicate themselves to the community and the environment.
Let's put the "fun" in sponsorship and bring "wow" to helping others - be they people, animals, or the environment! Together, we can make an incredible difference!
Are you into changing the world or changing destinations? Greetings!
Are you part of the dream team that fights for human rights, health, equality, and the environment, all while giving a high-five to Mother Nature? On GROUPnTRAVEL, your organization can partner with preferred holiday rentals and thereby receive direct sponsorships from tourists for every booking made. A fantastic way to raise funds for your causes!
Are you the mastermind behind unforgettable tours and the local event extraordinaire for your region? Get ready to dazzle tourists with hidden gems and make your tourism association proud!
Hop over to the GROUPnTRAVEL partner's page and get your organization registered. Once you're up and running, you'll be all set to team up with your preferred accommodations!
Collaborating Nonprofit Organizations and Associations
Let's build a 5–star hotel planet for all living things
| 5-star-planet.org |