MakeItHappen, founded by Maria Victor, is a travel design company that curate and develop cultural experiences. It curates and develops travel content and travel experiences which are culturally rooted. In an interaction with BWdisrupt team Maria said, “We believe cultural experiences can be a great way to get an ethnic perspective about a destination. Since our inception we have been working with communities to develop sustainable tourism and authentic travel experiences which showcases the ethnicity and diversity of a destination. “
Travelers don’t have easy access to historical facts and cultural information. MakeItHappen takes travelers off the beaten track to dive deeper into the cultural aspect of a destination to get a perspective of it social, historical and cultural heritage.
Some of its curated tours are a specialized tours to ‘Nagaland for the Hornbill Festival’,‘Chasing the Monsoon Trail in South India,’ ‘Mahayana Buddhism in Ladakh’, ‘A Walk Down Toda Lane in Conoor’, ‘Banavasi Rural Experience,’ ‘Mussel Farming in Kasargod’ amongst others. In the last financial year it operated 50 culturally themed round trip tours for over 450 customers.
Affiliated Local business such as local craftsmen, museums, artists, restaurants are an integral part of tourism but are not showcased and highlighted. By collaborating with local businesses and public it aims at building a sustainable tourism model which contributes to local economies.
Recently, the startup was developing short curated, culturally themed walks and tours in collaboration with Goa Heritage Action Group (GHAG). GHAG is an NGO committed towards preserving Goa’s long heritage. These short tours are 1.5-2 hours in duration and range between INR 500 – 1000. Travelers can book these tours on arrival at their destination. It expects to launch 50 cultural tours in Goa by Oct. It is also working on similar collaboration across other destination in India.
The startup enhances consumer’s reach by doing marketing through the use of QR codes, by using digital platforms and by collaborating and using referrals from affiliated business such as hotels, restaurants and museums amongst others. It has also developed B2B collaboration with travel agencies as a part of its marketing strategy.
To enhance the traveler’s experience, the travelling site has adopted an innovative technology which is the combination of the use of a mobile app and the use of QR codes to provide location specific information to travelers. Travelers visiting a cultural site see a creatively placed QR code and receive historical and cultural facts about the location through the app. Visitors are then directed to other attractions, related tours and local business which are culturally rooted.
This startup has raised no funds so far. It has organically grown the business by reinvesting profits. It is on an expansion drive and is seeking an investment of Rs.30 lakh for development of its technology to provide location specific information at cultural sites and a listing platform for cultural tours, events and local business.
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This is Meghna Shukla. She lives in Delhi. She is an engineering graduate and currently pursuing MBA from Jaypee Business School. She has a work experience of 2 years in content development. She loves to read and write.
