Roam Costa Rica

Internal · commercial

Business case & clients

Free is their town, generically. The pilot is their town, recognizable. Pre-generate the district before the cold email. Renew before expanding the map.

Lodge wedge $1–5k + retainer Destination founding $8–12k Season Pack after ≥2 live worlds

The case

Why this product exists commercially — not just experientially.

Travelers already watch destination clips and read guides. What they lack is a single place that feels like being there, teaches what matters, saves a real day plan, and hands them to a trusted local partner without killing the magic.

Roam Costa Rica is the destination, guide, and partner platform. Play Costa Rica is the consumer layer: choose a player, enter a world, finish a journey, build a plan, continue to a partner.

The converting pitch is not a feature list. Generic OSM on DEM is free. Photo-authored landmarks and a tuned hunt are what destination bodies actually buy.

Non-goals for now

Full-country open world · photoreal / Unreal fidelity · keyword farms · display ads in the world · Roam as merchant of record · owning inventory or rates · perpetual hosting for a one-time pilot fee · becoming an ad network.

Year-one wedge

Arenal Interactive Preview + Clip Pack — and the destination pilot.

  • Embeddable or linked walkable Arenal scene
  • 8–10 clips / month from partner-relevant viewpoints
  • Optional co-branded end cards
  • Persona deep links (Backpacker, Couple, Family, Group)
  • Attributed partner actions (book / inquire / rates)
  • Basic journey and conversion report

Lodge / operator: $1–5k setup + monthly retainer for clip/content refresh.

Pilot proof: 4–8 weeks against the partner’s static destination page. Seek qualified-action lift, lower content-production effort, a testimonial, and a paid renewal.

Visitors can book from the experience. Roam does not take payment or hold inventory in the MVP. Every outbound carries UTM / attribution so the partner can credit the session.

The lodge clip pack is the Arenal cash wedge. The destination-body SKU is a recognizable world plus a 5–8 stop hunt — Cámara, ADI, ICT, heritage, or festival. Same converting pitch: generic OSM on DEM is free; authored landmarks are what they buy.

Monetization order

Ship revenue in this sequence — skip early display ads.

  1. 1

    B2B lodge / operator pilots

    Beachhead. Preview + clips + attributed handoff.

  2. 2

    Destination body / DMO pilot

    World + hunt + analytics + 30-day support. Cámara / ADI / ICT / festival holds the contract.

  3. 3

    Curriculum / school packs

    Geology, ecology, culture in situ — after Arenal proof.

  4. 4

    Affiliate on plan modules

    Attributed links on saved day plans — disclosed. Destination body remains merchant of record when possible.

  5. 5

    Consumer subscription

    Only if the retention loop is real.

Companion mode (on-ground GPS, no WebGL) is the phase with a clear operator/board cheque: attributed proof a visitor arrived because of the product. Expansion worlds two–seven are paid regional products once a region ships with zero TypeScript changes — Monteverde is world two on demand.

Every industry that can buy

Players are the audience. These are the invoices. Arenal is a destination world, not a downtown twin — same commercial catalog, different object: a recognizable place plus quests, not generic OSM.

Buyers, in order

Paying buyers and distribution partners, grouped by when they matter. End users (travelers and gamers) are the audience — not the invoice.

Beachhead — sell now

Next — after one renewal

Later — franchise & scale

Not the invoice

SKU paths

Twin = destination world. Downtown Hunt = quest parcours / companion hunt. BID = Cámara / ADI / ICT. Indicative — not a quote.

Beachhead — sell now

Pre-generate their district before the cold email. The hero-prop gap (photo-authored landmarks vs generic OSM boxes) is inside the pilot — that is what they are actually buying.

Path Who pays How Price
Lodge Preview + Clip Pack Boutique lodge / resort / operator Embed + clips + attributed CTA $1–5k + retainer
Pilot (Destination Hunt) Cámara / ADI / ICT / heritage / festival World + 5–8 stop hunt + analytics + 30-day support, ~21 days $8–12k founding (case study) · $12k standard · up to $15k
Change orders Same client Translation, extra stops/heroes, paid media, interiors Written estimate before work
Hero-prop gap Pilot client Photo-authored landmarks vs generic OSM boxes Inside the pilot
City as sponsor Municipality funds Cámara / ADI BID-analog holds contract; city writes the cheque later Same as pilot

After ≥2 live worlds

Hosted license / renewal folds into Season Pack. Do not give perpetual hosting for a one-time $12k. Google reality-compare is pilot / campaign only — pass-through + margin; never on free.

Path Who pays Price
Season Pack / annual update Live client $8–25k (Y2 draft $8–15k) — primary retention
Campaign / marketing push DMO / Cámara / festival $25–60k
Prepaid catalog layer Existing world owner Scoped (festival overlay, food crawl, see-the-plan, accessible routes)
Hosted license / renewal Any published world Fold into Season Pack
Agency white-label Tourism / experiential agencies Wholesale of the pilot, or rev-share. No exclusive territory in Y1
Festival overlay Festival org Season Pack or prepaid layer
Multi-district portfolio Regional tourism board Pilot × N with volume, after two singles work
Agency workshop Channel partners Fee or bundled into wholesale
Board analytics report Live owner Inside Season Pack, or a small annual add-on
Google reality-compare Pilot / campaign only Pass-through + margin. Never on free

Post-beachhead — do not build this quarter

Funnel exhaust and adjacent buyers. Keep them named so they do not become accidental roadmaps.

Path Who pays Notes
Starter self-serve Hotels, Airbnb hosts, small festivals, realtors Card-priced. Converts “no budget this year.” Funnel exhaust, not a new business
Sponsor quest inventory Cámara / ADI sells slots to retailers Bill the destination body for the layer, maybe a % of sponsor take. Do not become an ad network
CTA / booking take-rate Hotels, venues, tours Prefer the destination body as merchant of record so you do not siphon their partners
Campus orientation University / college Locked as SKU #2. Decide at Day 90
Developer / landlord gallery Real-estate marketing They have cards and urgency; still not the beachhead
Civic “see the plan” Planning / civic Attach to a destination-body world; do not sell the city first
Heritage / museum / field trip Museums, schools Teachers free forever (seeds campus). No support promise
Accessible tourism DMO + disability orgs Often grant-funded, slow
Private ops / safety Facilities, security, insurers Different buyer, different cycle
Film / series companion DMO + studio Only when a production is already attached
Wedding / venue path Venues, boutique hotels Starter candidate, not a custom art project
pSEO /twin/ gallery Inbound DMOs Lead engine, not cash. No ads on it
Platform SaaS / layer marketplace Many districts + third-party authors Needs ≥2 live and ≥70% template reuse

Competitive lane

Adjacent products exist. Almost none combine this stack.

Lane Overlap Gap vs Roam
VR / 360 tourism boards Immersion, B2B demos Headset-first; photoreal proof; weak SEO graph
Globe / Earth explorers Geographic presence Thin content; little trip conversion
OTAs / trip planners Intent + booking Lists, not a legendary stage

Our lane: cinematic stylized browser worlds + one knowledge graph (world, guides, clips) + persona journeys + partner bridge. Moat is authored journeys, local trust, partner distribution, and one truth reused across product, search, and clips — not public DEM or OSM.

What “working” looks like

Instrument the funnel; renew before expanding.

Start a partner conversation Open the Arenal world