blonde traveler investor presentation

Introducing BlondeTraveler.com

BlondeTraveler.com is a new site that aims

to revolutionize the female travel experience

in Southeast Asia, South America, and other less-developed parts of the world.

The Goal

To make the female travel experience in less-developed countries more…

fun flui

d and fruitful.

The Goal

adventurous

social

culturally-active

Safe environment

B.L.O.N.D.E

Bringing

Ladies

Onto

New

Destinations

& Experiences

In a nut-shell, BlondeTraveler is a fun game and support-service for females traveling Southeast Asia

who experience a lack of direction and

travel-related frustrations on the road.

We solve that problem by providing direction in a game-type format, along with travel support, and information.

so they can concentrate on enjoying themselvesand learning more from their trip.

This means that less-developed nations will become

more accessible for western female travelers.

BlondeTraveler.com Features

•Fun scavenger-hunt game with great prizes

•Trip planning and travel advice

•Up-to-date information on even the most isolated travel destinations

•Discounts at guest houses and traveler venues across the regions

•Network with fellow female travelers

•Ability to contribute tips and articles to site that can earn them points or cash towards membership fee.

So…how does it work?

Premium section (Platinum Blonde)

Free section (Dirty Blonde)

ArticlesPlace reviews

Tips & tricks

Travel challenge

Platinum Blonde

BlondeTraveler Challenges Country: Thailand

• Play c hec kers w ith a motorcyc le tax i dr iver (1 po int) • Perform with ladyboys (3 po ints)

• Put o n ‘80s gear and do aerob ics at Lumpini Park (2

po ints)

• Teac h a street vendor to do the moo nwa lk (2 po ints)

• Get a mo nk to share his w isdom (2 po ints)

• Find a d irty part of Bangkok and c lea n it up (2

po ints)

• Get your fortu ne to ld (1 po int)

Platinum Blonde

Other member benefits:

Team profiles

Track progress

Meet up with other members nearby

Live online help and travel advice

Rules of the GameTeams of 1-6

Teams awarded 1-3 points per challenge completed

Each week, the top 3 rated videos will receive 10 extra points per team

The first team to reach 100 points wins the challenge, and all points are reset

SponsorsThere are a number different ways that businesses can get involved:

1. Become a main sponsor

2. Sponsor a prize

3. Sponsor a challenge4. Become an Affiliate

Why this is the best idea ever

Having traveled Southeast Asia as a female backpacker, I learned the wants and needs of women on the road.

There is no service like this, and it is one that is very much needed by the female traveling community.

Some interesting statistics…

•In 2007, a total of 771,038 females from English-speaking countries visited Thailand (according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand)

•The “Gap Year” is becoming increasingly popular, with more and more university students taking a year off to travel less-developed countries

•These travelers often come under the category of “flashpackers”


•A flashpacker is a backpacker with a lot of expensive gear, and a higher disposable income (or access to money) than traditional budget backpackers

•According to AA Travel Insurance in the UK, the value of the average backpack and its contents has risen to $700 USD

And furthermore…

•International tourism is officially on the road to recovery from the economic crisis

•According to the latest UNWTO tourism barometer, international tourist arrivals grew by 7% in the first quarter of 2010


Asia was the region that was said to have led the tourism industry out of its downturn, and indeed…

Southeast Asia has done the best by a wide margin with an amazing 11% increase in inbound tourism in the 4th quarter of 2009

“Women who travel are clearly a rising population and all the statistics show it.”

-Peggy Stirling, Vice President-Safety, Security and Environmental at American Airlines

"Women want to go to exotic places, they want to have exotic experiences, but they feel much more comfortable when there's a guide or an experienced person there to make them feel safe in a foreign country.”

- Kathy Stewart, Butterfield & Robinson, a company based in Canada that runs high-end, active trips

So why hasn’t anyone done this already?

• The fact is, though there are many female travelers in Southeast Asia, few of them settle here

•That’s why this is the perfect opportunity to finally tap this so-far un-tapped market

What people are saying…

“Just wanted to let you know that your blog is the highpoint of my thailand-trip-researching-phase; it's informative *and* entertaining, which is exactly what one needs when your eyes starts glazing over from the travel forum posts where everything is just repeated over a gajillion times.”

-Jenny Chen


“I've been reading your blog for the last few weeks, gearing up for my trip to SE Asia next week and I'm loving it. I'm from Alberta, so maybe it's the west-coast Canadian thing but your sense of humour is hilarious and your writing is great.”

-Colette Meek

What people are saying… “LOVE the site!!! ...I am going through a quarter

life crisis and I am leaving my good paying (boring job) for 4-5 months to travel Southeast Asia...I will forward this site to all my family so they can worry a little less knowing I am not the only 25 year old women in the world who wants to drop everything and travel.

I of course am worried about my safety being a women travelling alone and would like to take all precautions to help make my journey a safer one. Thanks so much and I can not wait to explore this site some more!!!”

-Tonya Darlington


“I have been reading a lot of your site info and I can hardly believe my eyes....You are amazing and I have always dreamt that I would do the things you are doing so I think I will get my chance by doing them vicariously through you!!!”

-Jackie McBain

On Subscription Fees• The fact is that many sites on the

internet are now charging for content.

•The Wall Street Journal was one of the first to charge a fee for content. The executive editor of the WSJ online, Alan Murray, says that it’s essential to charge for content.

On Subscription Fees

• MediaBistro.com is a community resources for Media and Communications professionals.

•They charge $50 a year for membership

•They currently have over 1 million registered users


• The New York Times is charging its online readers $19.99 per month

• The Wall Street Journal is charging its online readers $8 per month

• Many sites like LinkedIn and Flickr have both unpaid and premium memberships


• I asked a very clever friend of mine who has been in the web industry for 10 years if he thought a subscription-based site could work.

•This is what he had to say:

On Subscription Fees“The world is tweeting, freelance journalists, unbiased people

etc are writing millions of words every hourand with sites like Google working to aggregate news in such a way, you get balanced news from hundreds of sources

why would you pay for one group of New Yorkers opinion on the world [ie. Like people pay subscription fees for the New York Times]

the answer is convenience

packaging something up in a way so you get all you need in easy bite size bits

productising content; that’s the differencebut that doesn’t work for news

but it should work for you

there is nothing you are thinking about that a combination of couch surfing, research, TravelFish, Youtube and Facebook don't offer

what you are doing is grouping and creating a product from these ideas and creating a new website.

That’s innovation. :)”

On Making Money

• So…how do we productize content?

•We create a site that appeals specifically to the niche market of female backpackers in Southeast Asia

•We grab their attention with fun articles and helpful information geared just for them

•Then, we offer them a premium membership where they get to participate in a game unlike any other in the world.

Why people would fork out cash for this service

When you’re traveling on $25 a day (as many young women are), less than paying 50 cents a day to a service that will make your life so much easier (and also provide you with ways to save and even make money) is a

no-brainer.Furthermore, worried parents would happily pay for this service to ensure their daughters a safety net on their travels.

Sales

• How are sales going to be generated?

1 - guerrilla marketing:

Fun 2-minute viral video

Sales

2- sales incentives:

•Send the site to 20 of your friends

•Commission-based sales team

•Buy 2 get 1 free

Sales3 - Event for target market:

Khao San Road

Launch party!!

Content

Current BlondeTraveler.com site already has over 300 articles and blog posts

User contributions:

Blog posts

Travel tips

Photos

Videos

The investment

Website: $15,000

Business administration: $5,000Marketing: $5,000

Total = $25,000

What do we need to get this site going?

If you take away nothing else…

Remember this:

- there is a currently untapped market for western female travellers in Southeast Asia

- there is a website that has already proven popular and statistics show the demand is there

- this window of opportunity will not last forever