58780Limitless Virtual ToursClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKLimitless Travel is a specialist holiday provider for people with a wide range of mobility restrictions and disabilities. Our aim is to launch Virtual Interactive Tours, designed principally, but not exclusively, for those with limited mobility or other disabilities. These Interactive tours will complement our extensive range of physical tours and will differ from standard "virtual tours" by featuring live, 2-way communication between knowledgeable local guides and tour participants. Our interactive tours will give those who may be restricted in their ability to travel (both in the current lockdown, and going forwards) a stimulating, engaging means to experience interesting visits and days out. By developing this service, it is envisaged that the current target audience for physical tours for those with disabilities, can be extended by a further 50% by incorporating those who previously were not able to join physical tours for reasons of affordability, confidence or mobility. They will also provide vital alternative income for tour guides and destinations, severely impacted by travel restrictions. This is an ambitious, but deliverable concept, having been originally defined in 2017, before being superseded by the rapid growth of the physical travel business. The current Covid-19 pandemic has changed market dynamics however, making the virtual alternative more pressing than ever. We have access to over 20,000 people in the Limitless community, and regularly run over 50 physical tours per annum for 1,000 or more people, to over 30 destinations, hence we can move quickly and approach potential suppliers and consumers to put our plans into action. Funding for our project will be used to move from concept to MVP, then into a sustained period of commercial operation, culminating in developing longer term plans for further scaling. From the competition award, we can start rapidly with feasibility discussions with tours, visitor attractions, potential consumers and trialling unattended test tours directly with selected guides. We will use this to develop an MVP by July. We plan to soft launch this within our community and commence initial public tours to gather feedback. This will inform refinements and technical changes, before we recruit a broad range of destinations and guides and launch a sustained marketing campaign. From late summer onwards we will be running regular tours, whilst preparing longer term plans for scaling and future growth, to be funded through revenue or private investment later in 2020/2021. PROJECT EXTENSION After successfully moving the project from concept to MVP we have now demonstrated the product market fit and commercial viability of the service. The next stage of the Virtual Tours project focuses on developing the business model, testing new routes to market and increasing the number of customers using the service. To date we have successfully tested and proven one revenue model and during the project extension we will develop two further revenue models to strengthen the overall business model. In addition to this we will develop new customer acquisition strategies to reach new customer segments. We will unlock and leverage benefits for sectors impacted by Covid-19, and the broader community. We will extend the proposition into some of the most impacted user bases - for example care homes, and this arguably disproportionately rapidly extends the range and number of users who will benefit, as well as introducing innovation into an adjacent sector; care provision.