This week, Inspirock launched what it claims is "the first free smart trip planner that instantly learns your personal interests and creates an itinerary just for you." On average, the Inspirock team says, travelers visit 38 websites over 21 days when planning a trip. The startup aims to cut that number down significantly by using machine learning and—you guessed it—big data.
Planning a trip just by visiting one site is travel’s Holy Grail (well, that and finding deals on airfare to Europe). But the lofty goal of creating a one-stop trip-planning app is a vision that’s seen many a startup wither before achieving success. Anoop Goyal, one of Inspirock's co-founders, thinks things are different for his company, which has spent three years honing its service before launching.
“Technology has matured enough now to the point where the problem can be solved effectively,” Goyal says. Unlike other services that use fewer data points to assemble trips, he says, Inspirock tracks millions of activities and attractions across 6,000 destinations in the United States and Europe.
To test it, I used Inspirock to plan a (sadly theoretical) three-day trip to Louisville, Kentucky, where I used to live. I challenged the service to dream up an itinerary aimed at my interests of horse racing, whiskey, and restaurants committed to using local ingredients. While the service delivered an initial itinerary that covered most of the essentials for a first-time Louisville visit, there were a few issues.
• Inspirock didn’t seem to know when Churchill Downs opened; my itinerary suggested I visit 90 minutes before the famed racecourse admits visitors. Goyal explained that Inspirock pulls much of its business info from Google: If the data is wrong there, it’s possible Inspirock will direct you to a closed venue.
• I’d marked this trip as adults only, so it seemed odd that no bourbon-related stop was included. Inspirock did add the Louisville Zoo to the trip, though. (It’s a fine place but not a must-visit.) After I removed the zoo from the itinerary, the service offered alternatives, with a tour of the Buffalo Trace distillery at the top of the list. Better!
• Although restaurants are a huge motivation for travel these days and selecting them takes up a lot of travelers’ planning time, Inspirock doesn’t include any dining suggestions yet. Goyal says the app may add restaurant recommendations in the future, based on user feedback.
Despite those concerns, creating a fun itinerary for this trip took just 20 minutes—and it was easy to share my plans with friends and save it to my calendar.
The real test, of course, is how well Inspirock learns each user’s interests and applies them to future trips. After I had loaded up my Louisville itinerary with distillery tours and horse racing-related stops, I dispatched Inspirock to plan a (sadly theoretical) adults-only trip to Dublin for mid-September. During that time, the Leopardstown Racecourse is hosting the prestigious Irish Champions Weekend, and Dublin's Irish whiskey distilleries are, as always, offering tours. Neither made the itinerary—but Inspirock did reserve 2.5 hours for the Dublin Zoo.
In other words, the quest for travel’s Holy Grail continues.