Odigos Launches Curated Trails and Itineraries; to Connect Hotel Aggregators for Potential Tourists

RATHER THAN reaching a spot with hundreds of touts and a pool of thousands of people looking for a guide, it would be so much nicer to have a pre-booked guide service, select your itinerary, guide, be informed about the cost and the duration well in advance. All you have to do is connect with your guide who will be easily identifiable and enjoy the experience.

One such app introduced by the Bird Group called Odigos helps travellers to take quick decisions in order to give a pleasurable experience.

The app will soon create 5,000 packages by 3,000 tour-guides in 2018. Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group, said, “The word is derived from a Greek word for ‘guide’ and it is an aggregator platform for tour-guides to provide tourists with all the data-points where customers can leave detailed feedback on the destinations.”

Launched in phase one, Odigos is available for curated trails and itineraries in addition to single point guided tours in Delhi, NCR and the Golden Triangle.

With a set of Ministry certified tourist guides, Odigos aims to campaign and market to individuals keen on becoming tour guides and assist them in signing up. “Easy navigation helps you to select a guide, read his profile, learn more about his expertise,” tells Bhatia who is also reaching out to airlines and hotel aggregators/ distributors for alliances.

Odigos is ‘Made in India’ but works well as an Indian tech product made for the global market.

According to Bhatia, the future is tech-driven where he lists out the top three future trends in the industry:

Tech-Enabled: The tourism industry is being supported and driven by technology products that are enabling discovery of new experiences 

Data-Driven: The end user wants to do all the research, and have all the data-points in place while making travel-related decisions

On-Demand: Customers want products and services on the move

Some of the problems witnessed while organizing a guide (for tourists)

-        No transparency when it comes to pricing

-        No credibility when identifying the tour guide

-        No prior verification to ensure the safety of the tourist

-        Limited inventory of available tour guides

-        No aggregator for offbeat tours

-        The Problem (For Guides)

-        Unsteady supply of business

-        No method for forecasting and scheduling upcoming tours

-        Payment collections restricted only in cash

-        Threat of no-shows

 The Solution (For Guides)

-        Enabling guides create a professional profile

-        Enabling discovery to a global tourist audience

-        Can plan their calendar in advance

-        Advance token payments to safeguard no shows

-        Focus on tours not on sales