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CASE STUDY · UBIDTOURS

Building a travel marketplace where local experts bid for the trip.

UbidTours is an AI-powered reverse-auction travel marketplace. Travelers post the trip they want, and vetted local Destination Management Companies (DMCs) around the world bid to deliver it. As UbidTours’ technology partner, we designed, built, launched and continue to run the platform.

“U Bid. U Choose. U Travel.”

Visit ubidtours.com
Illustrative interface — sample request, not live data
Client
UbidTours
Our role
Technology partner, end to end
Product
Two-sided travel marketplace with AI assistance
Status
Live · ubidtours.com
  1. 01 Problem
  2. 02 Approach
  3. 03 Solution
  4. 04 Technology
  5. 05 Outcome
  6. 06 Ongoing support

01 — Problem

Two sides of travel that weren’t reaching each other.

The people who run trips on the ground and the travelers who want tailored trips were poorly connected. Each side had a different problem.

Independent travelers

No easy way to get tailored, competitive offers

Getting a trip shaped around them, priced competitively, by the local experts who actually run it, took too much effort.

Local operators (DMCs)

Limited reach and hard cross-border payments

Local operators lacked access to international demand and simple ways to get paid across borders.

02 — Approach

Flip the booking model.

Instead of travelers searching through fixed packages, the traveler describes the trip and local experts compete to deliver it. The product was designed around that reversal.

The usual way
  1. Search many sites
  2. Compare fixed packages
  3. Settle for the closest fit
The UbidTours way
  1. U Bid — post the trip you want
  2. U Choose — compare bids from local experts
  3. U Travel — book the one that fits

Choice for travelers

Post a request and compare bids, or book a pre-packaged tour instantly.

Demand for local operators

DMCs bid on real requests and sell tours through a dedicated partner portal.

Intelligent matching

AI interprets what a traveler is asking for and guides them through booking.

To solve the empty-marketplace problem, an in-house DMC brand provides starter inventory, so travelers find bookable tours from day one.

03 — Solution

Delivered in six steps, from data model to soft launch.

  1. Architecture & data design

    Wireframes and the core data model for the marketplace.

  2. The marketplace core

    Trip requests, bidding, the tour catalog and the DMC partner portal.

  3. Secure payments

    DMCs act as merchant of record, with support for cross-border payouts.

  4. AI features

    Interpreting traveler intent and assisting travelers through booking.

  5. Hardening & readiness

    Security hardening, accessibility, search and AI-search visibility, and customer policies.

  6. Soft launch

    Launched with pre-packaged tours and pilot DMC partners in Asia and Latin America.

04 — Technology

A cloud-native platform built to grow with the marketplace.

UbidTours runs as a microservices system in the cloud with a modern web front end, so each part of the marketplace can evolve and scale on its own.

Web experience

Traveler-facing site for posting requests, comparing bids and booking curated tours and activities, plus a separate partner login for DMCs.

Marketplace services

Requests, bidding, catalog, partner portal and booking handled as independent cloud services.

Payments

Secure checkout with DMCs as merchant of record and cross-border payouts to partners.

AI layer

Interprets traveler intent and powers an on-site assistant that guides people through booking.

Security & operations

Infrastructure monitoring, threat detection, audit logging and automated fixes for routine issues.

Discoverability

Accessibility work plus search and AI-search visibility, so the platform is usable by everyone and easy to find.

05 — Outcome

A live, two-sided marketplace.

For travelers

Two ways to book: post a custom request and receive real-time bids from verified DMCs, or book from a curated marketplace of tours and activities.

For local operators

A partner portal to bid on real requests and sell tours, with pilot DMC partners in Asia and Latin America at launch.

For the business

Bookable from day one thanks to starter inventory, with trips organised by travel mood, from wellness retreats to food tours.

06 — Ongoing support

Launch was the start, not the handover.

We continue to run and evolve UbidTours as its long-term technology partner.

Monitoring & security

Continuous infrastructure monitoring, threat detection and audit logging.

Self-healing operations

Automated fixes for routine issues, with human approval for higher-risk changes.

Updates & scaling

Regular releases, performance tuning and capacity planning as demand grows.

Compliance & policy

Cancellation, refund and privacy policies kept current as the business expands.

Accessibility & discoverability

Ongoing improvements so the site is usable by everyone and findable in search and AI assistants.

Partner & traveler support

Guided DMC onboarding, partner portal help and a defined support workflow for administrators.

Capabilities involved

SaaS Products Software Development AI & Analytics Creative & Design

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