The WishPoints mission page set out why the project existed. Its starting point was simple: many people watch television travel hosts exploring far-off kitchens and back streets and think they would love that life. The project tried to give ordinary travellers a version of it.
The founder’s story
According to the archive, the founder, Grace Lee, has travelled for around twenty years, visiting more than eighty countries and dozens of US states across six continents. She travelled as a business traveller, a backpacker and a group organiser, and always liked leaving the usual tourist routes to eat local food and find unusual adventures. She enjoyed sharing tips with family and friends and wanted to help others build a life around travel.
Her vision statement spoke of courage gained through journeys, and of how sharing stories and discoveries can inspire people who have travelled less to explore more.
An entrepreneurship news outlet described the platform in 2016 as a web and mobile tool where users create and share travel experiences and wishlists, see where friends have been and want to go, and rely on friends’ referrals to cut planning time.
Goals
The project listed its aims briefly:
- Reward frequent travellers whose advice is good.
- Help people finish their wishlists and find distinctive experiences.
- Connect travellers with reliable service and content providers.
- Make planning easier.
- Support local businesses.
Problems it wanted to solve
- Emerging destinations feel daunting. Places such as Cuba, Iceland, Croatia, Nepal, the Maldives, Jordan, Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Bolivia offer great sights and food, but activities can seem risky, food quality uncertain and excursions hard to arrange without being overcharged.
- Perceived danger. Some people stay home because they cannot picture what they would do or how they would get around.
- Local vendors are invisible. Guides, drivers and food stalls often speak little English and cannot afford advertising, so they rely on word of mouth, with no directory of trusted names.
- Friends’ advice is scattered. Asking friends is common, but collecting their notes takes time, and nobody can easily search where friends have been or contact the vendors they used.
The proposed solution
The platform would pass along referrals from experienced travellers, so that future travellers could find and reach trusted vendors. When a blogger posts about a new region and recommends a local guide, friends and family are more likely to follow.
Two kinds of users were envisioned. Pointers race to find and share hidden gems and local favourites with their network. Wishers search friends’ recommendations and plan trips from them. Ambassadors, modelled loosely on celebrity travel hosts, are rewarded for discovery, referrals, community building and trustworthy advice. See the ambassadors page for detail.