1406 Adventures

The Problem

Luxury travel advisors depend on referrals but have no infrastructure to track them. Leads come through texts and emails with no attribution. Agents who send clients get no visibility. The advisors can't tell which relationships drive revenue, making it impossible to invest in the right partnerships.

What I Learned from Users

• Discovery interviews with the travel advisor revealed she could name her top 5 referral sources from memory but had no data to back it up — her 'analytics' was a notebook with checkmarks
• Mapped her full referral workflow: agent partner sends a client → client emails or calls → advisor books a consultation → trip is booked 2-6 months later. Zero digital touchpoints in the entire flow
• Interviewed 3 of her referring agents — they wanted to know when their referrals converted but felt uncomfortable asking. The partner registry solved a relationship pain point, not just a data problem
• The advisor's existing website had beautiful photography but no call-to-action above the fold. Heatmap analysis of the old site showed 80% of visitors never scrolled past the hero image

Why I Built This

A couple who run their own luxury travel agency came to me because their entire business ran on word of mouth, but they had no way to track which referrals actually converted. Their website was a brochure that didn't capture leads, and their clients couldn't easily share their info. I'm building out their entire site as a white-glove experience: a React web app with a referral tracking system that ties every inquiry to its source, and a React Native mobile app that gives clients a premium browsing experience. The web app includes an agent partner registry, multiple layout variants for conversion testing, and a lead capture funnel with referral attribution. It turns a relationship-driven business into a measurable one — without losing the personal touch.

Strategy

Target customer: High-touch luxury travel advisors who book 10-50 clients per year through personal referrals — not volume businesses, but relationship businesses where every lead matters. Competitive landscape: Squarespace and Wix handle basic travel websites but offer no referral tracking or agent management. CRMs like Salesforce are overkill for a solo advisor. Travel-specific tools like TravelJoy focus on itinerary management, not lead attribution. Go-to-market: Direct client work — this was built for a specific advisor, designed to be a template for similar businesses. The referral tracking system is the differentiator that generic website builders can't match. Business model: Project-based build with potential for recurring revenue through a hosted white-label version for other luxury advisors.

What I Built

I'm building out the entire digital presence for 1406 Adventures — a white-glove experience for a couple who run their own luxury travel agency. They book 10-12 exclusive clients per year, all through personal referrals. The web app is a conversion-optimized marketing site with a URL-based referral tracking system that attributes every lead to the agent or client who sent them. The native mobile app mirrors the brand experience and lets clients browse destinations and submit inquiries on the go. Every design decision — from the multi-layout A/B tests to the agent partner registry — is built around one metric: qualified referral conversions.

Key Decisions & Tradeoffs

• Built as a React SPA with Vite instead of Next.js — the site is purely client-side with no server-side data, so SSR added complexity without value
• Chose React Native for mobile instead of a responsive web app — the client's audience expects a native feel, and the referral share flow works better as a deep link into an installed app
• Designed the referral system as URL parameters rather than auth-gated tracking — lower friction for referrers who just want to share a link
• Tested multiple layout variants rather than picking one — the client serves a niche audience, so data beats intuition on what converts

Outcomes & Results

• Referral tracking system attributing 100% of leads to their source — replacing a notebook and guesswork
• Multiple layout variants A/B tested to optimize conversion on the lead capture funnel
• Agent partner registry giving referring advisors visibility into their pipeline for the first time
• Cross-platform consistency: web and mobile share brand assets, copy, and interaction patterns

What Didn't Work (And What I Changed)

• First design was a multi-page site with separate pages for each destination. Analytics showed users visited 1.2 pages on average — they weren't browsing, they were trying to make an inquiry. Redesigned as a single-page experience with the lead form always visible
• Initially built the referral system with unique tracking codes that agents had to remember and share. Adoption was near zero — too much friction. Switched to simple URL parameters (?ref=agentname) that agents could bookmark and share naturally
• The mobile app v1 tried to replicate the full web experience. Usage was minimal — luxury travel clients don't browse destinations on their phone the way they browse a website. Simplified the mobile app to focus on trip galleries (post-booking) and quick inquiry submission

Technical Highlights

• URL-based referral tracking system that attributes every lead to its source
• Agent partner registry connecting travel advisors to their referral network
• Cross-platform web + native mobile with consistent luxury brand experience
• Multi-layout A/B testing system for conversion optimization
• Lead capture funnel with referral attribution and automated inquiry routing
• Mobile app with destination browsing, trip galleries, and direct inquiry submission

Tech Stack

Products Built