A New Way to Explore the World: TaggedTrip™ App Launched to Connect with Like-Minded Travelers

Associated Press

08-04-2025

04/07/2025, Columbus, Ohio // PRODIGY: Feature Story //
In a bold move to reshape the future of travel, three seasoned industry veterans have joined forces to launch TaggedTrip ™, a promising app that is reinventing the way people travel by making it possible to book trips and experiences based on who else is going. With patent-pending technology, TaggedTrip™ allows individuals to connect with fellow travelers who share similar interests without sacrificing privacy or safety.
Don Farrell
Billed as 'travel reinvented,' TaggedTrip™ is a unique new app allowing users to plan their travel or entertainment around whether others with similar backgrounds, interests, or struggles will be there, too. The app is already available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play, boasting over 250 categories of shared interests, from alumni affiliations to lifestyle choices, hobbies, and even recovery journeys.
George VonAllmen
'We've created a way to bring people together who may otherwise never meet, all while ensuring privacy and safety,' says George VonAllmen, one of the founders. 'It's not just travel. It's a meaningful connection encounter.'
Between co-founders VonAllmen, Don Farrell, and IT veteran Ananda Jami, the TaggedTrip™ team brings over a century of combined experience in hospitality and technology. Farrell's journey began as a dishwasher at a hotel. Now, he leads one of North America's premier hospitality training companies. VonAllmen's career was rooted in convention bureau work and large-scale hotel sales. Jami rounds out the trio with decades of IT and software architecture experience.
This extensive background forms every element of the app, from functionality to user experience. But, the heart of TaggedTrip™ is in its mission. 'We want this to be a safe, healing, empowering platform,' VonAllmen says. 'Particularly for individuals in recovery and veterans, two groups close to our hearts.'
For individuals in recovery from drugs, alcohol, or gambling, travel can be a minefield of temptation and isolation. TaggedTrip™ offers a lifeline by connecting these users with others who understand the struggle. The same goes for military veterans, many of whom face loneliness and mental health challenges after service.
It's a goal rooted in compassion but also in practicality. The app is intentionally built to avoid any exchange of personal data. Users don't share photos, age, gender, or email addresses. Instead, they connect based solely on 'likes,' which function as shared interests, identifiers, or life experiences. Communication is initiated within the app, and meetings can take place in designated public hotel spaces identified with small signboards. 'It's social connection, cloaked in privacy and safety,' says Jami. 'And it's a huge plus for women travelers especially.'
This patent-pending technology connects users automatically based on their selected destination, dates, and 'likes.' If someone plans a trip to Denver, for example, the app immediately shows others traveling there with shared interests, from fishing enthusiasts to former Marines or fantasy football fans. Farrell states, 'This is a disruptive technology in one of the best ways possible. You plan your trip and suddenly discover a conference, a gathering, or just a chance to meet someone who really gets you.'
Ananda Jami
The Rev2 version will include exciting new AI technology, such as conversational voice activation, allowing one to simply describe their trip like: 'I'm going to San Fran from the 12th to 15th of February, and I would like to meet other pickleball players.' The technology will also be able to expand potential 'likes,' similar to how music apps identify preferences and make new recommendations.
And it doesn't stop at hotels. The TaggedTrip™ platform is designed to scale across all types of travel and entertainment inventory, including cruise lines, vacation rentals, campgrounds, RV parks, flights, and sporting events. 'If there's a space or a seat, TaggedTrip™ can bring people together around it,' confirms Jami.
The app is already building momentum through partnerships with alumni associations, some of the biggest social and community engagement platforms, and large non-profit organizations. TaggedTrip™ is positioning itself not only by acquiring individual users one at a time but by targeting entire communities such as university alumni groups, veteran associations, and lifestyle organizations. 'Alumni groups love this,' says VonAllmen. 'They already know that group trips increase engagement and donations. With TaggedTrip™, they don't even have to organize anything. It will happen organically.'
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