Former Priceline execs debut Plannin, a booking platform that uses travel influencers to help plan trips
Comment
Andrew Loewen and Randy Schartner, co-founders of Hotelsbycity.com and former Priceline executives, just announced their latest project: Plannin, a global travel booking platform that empowers creators to monetize their hotel recommendations and share travel-focused content.
As the creator economy continues to ramp up in value, estimated to generate $250 billion in revenue, Plannin wants to put a twist on travel booking by using influencers as an alternative to travel agents.
With Plannin, creators can tell their audience about their latest trip and which hotels they liked and post photos of their travels. To earn income, they share an affiliate link across social platforms for their followers to sign up on Plannin. Meanwhile, travelers can access thousands of creator recommendations and can directly book hotels through the platform.
“One recommendation from the right person is worth more than 1,000 anonymous reviews. It’s about helping people experience travel through creators they trust,” Loewen told TechCrunch. He was previously the chief operating officer at Priceline Partner Network.
What’s most notable about the platform is that it gives creators a 5% lifetime commission, meaning if a follower clicks on their link and continues to book through Plannin, the creator will earn commission on that account for as long as the account exists.
“We offer a lifetime commission model so creators can earn from their audience even if they don’t book that day. The reason we did that is because travel is not an impulse buy. … Many of our bookings happen [15 to 60] days after the original account is created,” Loewen said.
Placing creators at the forefront is a strategic move for Plannin, ensuring a steady flow of content and traffic to the platform. The company also thinks that travelers will benefit from authentic recommendations from influencers they know and trust who share the same interests and tastes.
However, some people may doubt that honest recommendations can come from influencers driven by financial gain. Schartner, who previously was the president of the Priceline Partner Network, doesn’t think it’ll be a problem, though. “You would assume that they would give an honest review because it’s to their audience. … Most people wouldn’t lie or mislead on their personal socials because they have a deeper connection with their audience,” he said.
Plannin has already onboarded more than 600 influencers and has about 5,000 posts and 1,500 recommendations on the platform. The company approves creators with more than 10,000 followers, but it may also consider micro-influencers who specialize in travel-focused content.
Plannin also has a search capability featuring over 2 million hotels worldwide. The platform is partnered with Booking Holdings, which owns Priceline, Agoda, Booking.com and OpenTable.
Plannin hopes to become a one-stop booking platform for the entire trip experience. For instance, this summer, it’ll allow creators to recommend restaurants, tours, attractions and other activities. The company will soon partner with GetYourGuide and OpenTable to help travelers book restaurant table reservations and activities in one place.
Additionally, the platform is launching “Trip Boards” later this month. Creators will be able to curate a full itinerary with all the experiences, hotels and restaurants from a destination in one place. For example, an influencer can make a trip board based on their recent trip to Italy, showing dozens of places from their favorite cities.
Plannin is still in beta, but an official launch is in the works.
The company secured $2.5 million in funding last year, led by Golden Ventures, N49P and former Booking Holdings CEO Jeffery Boyd. The company is looking to raise more venture capital this summer.
Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.
Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.
The latest Fintech news and analysis, delivered every Tuesday.
TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.
TechCrunch Disrupt showcases cutting-edge technology and innovation, and this year’s edition will not disappoint. Among thousands of insightful breakout session submissions for this year’s Audience Choice program, five breakout sessions…
Check Point is the latest security vendor to fix a vulnerability in its technology, which it sells to companies to protect their networks.
Though Spotify never shared official numbers, it’s likely that Car Thing underperformed or was just not worth continued investment in today’s tighter economic market.
The studies, by researchers at MIT, Ben-Gurion University, Cambridge and Northeastern, were independently conducted but complement each other well.
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Okay, okay…
In a series of posts on X on Thursday, Paul Graham, the co-founder of startup accelerator Y Combinator, brushed off claims that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was pressured to resign…
In its three-year history, EthonAI has amassed some fairly high-profile customers including Siemens and chocolate-maker Lindt.
Don’t miss out: TechCrunch Disrupt early-bird pricing ends in 48 hours! The countdown is on! With only 48 hours left, the early-bird pricing for TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 will end on…
Biotech startup Valar Labs has built a tool that accurately predicts certain treatment outcomes, potentially saving precious time for patients.
Archer Aviation is partnering with ride-hailing and parking company Kakao Mobility to bring electric air taxi flights to South Korea starting in 2026, if the company can get its aircraft…
Space startup Basalt Technologies started in a shed behind a Los Angeles dentist’s office, but things have escalated quickly: Soon it will try to “hack” a derelict satellite and install…
As a teen model, Katrin Kaurov became financially independent at a young age. Aleksandra Medina, whom she met at NYU Abu Dhabi, also learned to manage money early on. The…
Can AI help you tell your story? That’s the idea behind a startup called Autobiographer, which leverages AI technology to engage users in meaningful conversations about the events in their…
AI-powered summaries of web pages are a feature that you will find in many AI-centric tools these days. The next step for some of these tools is to prepare detailed…
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved…
Battery recycling startups have emerged in Europe in a bid to tap into the next big opportunity in the EV market: battery waste. Among them is Cylib, a German-based startup…
Amazon has received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly its delivery drones longer distances, the company announced on Thursday. Amazon says it can now expand its…
With Plannin, creators can tell their audience about their latest trip, which hotels they liked and post photos of their travels.
Amazon is rolling out its AI voice search feature to Alexa, which lets it answer open-ended questions about content.
Redpanda has already integrated Benthos into its own service and has made it the core technology of its new Redpanda Connect service.
It’s a lofty goal to take on legacy payments infrastructure, however, Forward’s model has an advantage by shifting the economics back to SaaS companies.
Fertility remains a pressing concern around the world — birthrates are down in many countries, and infertility rates (that is, the inability to conceive) are up. Rhea, a Singapore- and…
Microsoft, Meta, Intel, AMD and others have formed a new group to design next-gen interconnects for AI accelerator hardware.
With JioFinance, the Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani is making his boldest consumer-facing move yet into financial services.
Salespeople live and die by commissions. It’s no surprise, then, that Salesforce paid a premium to buy a platform that simplifies managing commissions.
YoLa Fresh works with over a thousand retailers across Morocco and records up to $1 million in gross merchandise volume.
Instagram is expanding the scope of its “Limits” tool specifically for teenagers that would let them restrict unwanted interactions with people.
Agritech company Iyris helps growers across eleven countries globally increase crop yields, reduce input costs, and extend growing seasons.
Exactly.ai says it uses generative AI to help artists retain legal ownership of their art while being able to reproduce their designs faster and at scale.
FintechOS competes with other companies such as Ncino, Meridian Link, Abrigo and Backbase.
Powered by WordPress VIP
source
Sponsor:News technical sponsor
Sponsor:News AI sponsor
Sponsor: AI sponsor
Sponsor: AI sponsor
Leave a Comment