The graveyard of travel clubs
Since 2010, 47 travel subscription startups launched globally. 41 shut down or pivoted. All failed for 3 same reasons.
Failure 1: Adverse selection
Heavy users self-select in, casual travelers churn. Death spiral: heavy users deplete pool faster than fees replenish it.
Failure 2: No transparency
BeRightBack hid all financial info. When EU regulators demanded solvency proof in 2023, they couldn't provide it. Trust collapsed.
Failure 3: Inventory economics at small scale
You need $15M+/year in bookings to access real Hotelbeds B2B tier-1 rates. Most clubs never reached scale.
What Tripool does differently
1. SM Score prevents adverse selection. 2. Public pool data builds trust. 3. Actuarial model ensures pool can never be depleted faster than replenished. 4. Founders strategy to cross $15M threshold in Year 1.