New campsite location service – Hoplett

Hoplett screen shot for hoplett.com

I got an email this week from the guy behind a startup service aimed at the outdoors market, I liked his friendly approach and the premise behind the platform / service. And I put aside the fact that he’s way too entrepreneurial for a 22 year old – leaving a good job at Google to launch this service – too much energy and enthusiasm from the youth I say πŸ˜‰

http://www.hoplett.com/

Hoplett looks like a great service idea and with my other hat on (web marketing / digital content consultant etc) it has the making of a nice user experience / interface and functionality.

I asked Gui, the guy behind the site, where the name came from:Β it’s a mix of hop – as in hopping / hiking / travelling from place to place and allowing site / property owners to let accommodation. Now you know (I wanted to know out of brand development interest, some of you won’t be so interested I’m sure πŸ™‚

To quote the launch / intro site : If you’re on the road, it will show you places to “camp around you or along the way you want to take. To decide among these you can see pictures, videos, reviews, the exact GPS location and directions to get there. Once you make up your mind, just hit book and you’re done. The payment is handled automatically and you never have to figure out if there is space available for you”, that’s also handled by Hoplett.

They’re also looking to curate some properties that might be unusual or are in areas under-served by campsites.

Hoplett multi device platform screens

As I say, the website and branding look great but there’s more to launching a new platform or web utility for any market: you need a lot of robust and useful data / content behind it to get traction. So it looks like a good start in that they’re collating campsite data and soliciting user/owner generated listings (from campsite owners) but also allowing hiker / camper reviews too.

I wish them luck.

2 thoughts on “New campsite location service – Hoplett”

  1. This sounds like a very cool idea, and it could be quite useful. A major hurdle it’s going to face is a lack of connectivity in the types of places people want to hike and camp, though, at least out west. When I was just a little bit younger I did a number of road trips, including a three month cross-country adventure, and spent most nights camping, finding campgrounds as I went, often with the help of a paper map. Sometimes I’d spend 20 or 30 miles on a dirt road, and go a week or more without passing through anywhere with cell reception. I’m sure there’s more coverage now than there was ten years ago, but there are still many places in my home state where there’s no hope of getting or making a call … and these tend to be the most attractive places for hikers and many campers.

    Reply
    • That’s a good point in general Forrest, I’ve wanted to check-in with a photo at a couple of spots on fairly remote hikes and haven’t been able to. Of course, there’s a case for ‘radio silence’ (I hear my lo tech friends shouting) in remote areas so you can be more mindful – but location-based services do need good coverage, I get what you are saying.

      Reply

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