AllTrails owns hiking. Hipcamp owns camping. The $928M hot springs market is wide open — and we're building the app to own it.
The field is wide open. Existing options are static websites with limited data. We're building the AllTrails of hot springs — with a better business model.
| Platform | Springs | Reviews | Filters | Booking | Mobile App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SoakMap | ~2,958 | — | — | — | — |
| Hot Springs of America | ~400 | — | Partial | — | — |
| Hot Springers | ~278 | Editorial | Partial | — | — |
| iOS apps (various) | ~1,660 | — | — | — | 2.6 stars |
| Soakr | 2,197+ | Community | Full | Integrated | Native iOS |
Wellness travel is the fastest-growing segment in tourism. Hot springs are at the center of it, growing 14.8% annually.
Japan alone has 27,900 springs. Iceland, Hungary, New Zealand — the international expansion opportunity is massive.
40-50% of hot springs charge admission. Unlike hiking (free), there's a natural revenue layer — day passes, lodging, resorts.
Hiking is free. AllTrails had to invent a subscription for premium features ($35.99/yr) because there's nothing to book. Monetization is indirect.
Discovery leads directly to spending. Average resort stay: $200+. Repeat visits are the norm. We capture revenue at the point of booking — the Hipcamp model, applied to hot springs.
This isn't a slide deck with mockups. The app is built, the data is real, and it's in testers' hands today.
Search, filter, list view, and interactive map. Filter by clothing policy, free/paid, camping, lodging, primitive, 4WD, hike-in. Every spring in the US.
5-dimension rating system (overall, water, scenery, access, facilities). Community reviews with helpful votes. Verified visit badges via photo geolocation.
User-uploaded photo galleries with Supabase Storage. Community-submitted springs with moderation queue. Contributor levels and gamification.
Track every spring you visit. Personal stats, saved springs, visit history. Gamified progression — Soaker, Explorer, Guide, Expert levels.
Apple Sign-In, Google Sign-In, and email auth via Supabase. Secure, frictionless onboarding that works on any device.
Temperature, pH, minerals, clothing policy, fees, amenities, road conditions, hike distances, booking links, GPS coordinates. Aggregated from 8+ data sources.
Every review, photo, and visit makes the platform more valuable. We never charge users — revenue comes from the businesses they discover.
Every stream is designed to run without a sales team or per-transaction work. Self-serve tools and automated systems handle the rest.
User discovers a spring, taps "Book" → checkout handled by Duffel Stays (direct) or affiliate link (Booking.com/Expedia). Payment, confirmation, and cancellation all handled by the platform.
300-400 springs charge $10-50/person for day use. Users buy advance tickets in-app, get a QR code, scan at the door. One-time setup per facility, then it runs itself.
Every commercial spring gets a listing. Owners claim it for free and get a dashboard with analytics — views, saves, direction clicks. They see their traffic and upgrade themselves.
Conservative estimates. All pre-expense. Margins are ~95%+ because every stream is automated.
AI handles support, moderation, and triage. Automated systems handle billing and content. You focus on product and community.
AI chatbot handles common questions. Booking issues routed to platform partners. Only edge cases need attention.
In-dashboard tools and Stripe self-serve billing. Owners manage their own listings, analytics, and subscriptions.
AI screens reviews, photos, and submissions. Auto-approves 95%+. Quick weekly review of flagged items.
Supabase, Vercel, and Expo handle scaling. No servers to manage. Push-to-deploy from a single codebase.
A $928M market growing at 14.8% annually with no dominant product. Three automated revenue streams built on a free, community-powered app. The technology is built, the data is real, and the first users are already soaking.