🚀 Product Updates: Behind the Build

A running log of features, improvements, and behind-the-scenes progress on localflow.

🗓 February 16 – May 14, 2025

🌱 Foundation Laid

• Finalized localflow’s core idea: AI-powered itinerary builder + CRM for Destination Management Companies (DMCs)
• Defined MVP feature set and pricing tiers
• Chose the tech stack:
  • Frontend: Next.js + TailwindCSS
  • Backend: FastAPI, LangChain, OpenAI
  • Database: Firestore
  • Integrations: WhatsApp Business API, SMTP (email), Stripe (planned)

👥 Customer Interviews & Pilots

• Conducted 6 in-depth interviews with small and mid-sized DMCs across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Vietnam
• Key insights:
  • Most requests come via email and WhatsApp, not web forms
  • Agents spend 2–3 hours per itinerary manually assembling PDFs
  • Need for a simple, editable system that doesn’t “look too corporate”
• Changes made based on feedback:
  • Built WhatsApp/email parsing first, not form intake
  • Added ability to edit itineraries on the fly, not just generate them
  • Refined UI to feel more casual and travel-centric, less enterprise
• Launched pilot access to 3 DMCs in April
  • Feedback: “This feels like it was built by someone who’s done the job before.”

🧠 AI + CRM Engine

• Structured prompt logic for automated itinerary generation
• Integrated early LangChain agents for interpreting travel request context
• CRM module linked to itineraries: each itinerary can be tied to a customer
• Added ability to auto-populate dates, destinations, and preferences