Have you ever been on a trip where you are not only enjoying your travels by yourself but also reaping the benefits of having a mentor along? Ashruta Patel, a Surat-based entrepreneur, has taken the risk of starting her travel business venture and has named her start-up “Tripo Jungle”.
A travel concept that works according to what people need
Ashruta Patel, a computer engineer by profession, has been working in the travel industry for years. She learned the trade from her experience in the industry and then started her venture. After seven years, she has become the state’s best entrepreneur and established a startup named “Tripo Jungle”. According to her, the decision of where to travel is usually made by the primary decision-maker of the house. It’s not necessary that the other house members also want to visit the same place and have the same interests. Everyone has different choices, and everyone wishes to travel. Ashruta Patel says she provides services according to people’s needs and wants and gives them the bonus of having 14 mentors accompany them on their travel.
What’s the importance of having a mentor along?
Ashruta Patel says that her mentor service provides the customer with an itinerary and suggests hidden places to visit and lesser-known spots that many tourists might not know about. You will get the mentor service even during your travel. These mentors provide information about the famous places to visit and entertain you during your journey. The 14 mentors take care of all your needs, including where to eat, provide information about the local culture, and click photographs for you. Whether travelling as a couple with the family or embarking on a solo journey, they will plan accordingly. They will even answer any questions about the place you are in.
The new idea that popped into my head during COVID
Ashruta Patel says that before this, she had launched a start-up named ‘Travel Café’. As fate would have it, she didn’t attain much success in her first start-up. Then during the pandemic, she had another idea for a start-up. She tried spreading information about her new start-up through online sessions and got a few inquiries from interested people. As there was interest in her new start-up, she started blogging about it. At present, she is organising both domestic and international trips. She also holds travel workshops and conclaves throughout the year and spreads information about “Tripo Jungle” through them. The pandemic affected many industries especially travel, and her online sessions urged people to start travelling again once it was safe.
There were many problems in the beginning.
I had to face many challenges when I was launching my start–up since people couldn’t believe what I was proposing. When people used to call for booking, they considered me a travel agent and asked questions accordingly, but since it was a new concept, they also had trouble understanding it. This is why we prepared awareness programmes to help people understand our concepts and idea. In our stressful lives today, we should take a trip every 2 to 4 months as, after travelling, we adjust to our everyday lives better because we come back refreshed.
Why the name ‘Tripo Jungle.’
Whenever you go on a trip, there are a few things that you always see, which are nature and the jungle. Our mentors are trained to provide you with information about the wildlife and plants you see, and that’s how we came up with the name ‘Tripo Jungle’. We have started the website for our business and are working on releasing an app soon.
Mentor experience
With a mentor, you get the experience of having an expert in various fields. As the couple’s mentors, we have Jyoti Undakat and Krushnakant Undakat. As the cultural mentor, Jay Vasavda. As the solo traveller’s mentor, we have Bhavin Bhavsar. As the bicycle mentor, we have Ashish Pokia. As the food and travel mentor, we have Urvi Jhajmera. We have Virendra Ravat as the eco-tourism mentor. Shraddha Sha is the women’s travel mentor. Ashish Bhalalni is the family travel mentor. Chitranjan Desai, an excellent photographer from Surat, is also part of the team. Apart from these, we also have biker Rushita Bhalana, Nikhil Madrasi and Forum Marfatiya included in our team.
The travels we have been on
Ashruta has travelled with various groups under ‘Tripo Jungle’ to places including Dubai and Thailand. In India, she has travelled to Rishikesh, Himachal Pradesh and Kutch in Gujarat.
The new Venture was applauded.
Ashruta Patel was awarded ‘Best Startup of the Year’ by the Southern Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industries. She also received the Womennoter organisation’s 1000 women of Asia award. In the travel industry, she is the only woman to receive this award and is also recognised by ‘Rakhdo Gujratan’.