Luggit, the Uber equivalent for tourist luggage storage

Tourism in Barcelona and its number of visitors this summer has reached pre-coronavirus levels. The return of tourists to the city has uncovered new business initiatives and has been an attraction for new companies that want to please visitors and cover their needs to make their experience as travelers more excellent to set up in the Catalan capital.

This is the case of the Portuguese company LUGGit, which landed in Barcelona at the beginning of last July to facilitate the custody and logistics of tourists' luggage, when guests have not yet checked into hotels, have not done the check-in in the city's tourist apartments or, similarly, leave the facilities and have to transport and check in their suitcases on the last day of their stay.

According to the company, it is the first application to manage luggage and is described as "the equivalent of Uber" in this matter. Through a mobile phone or computer, the user can locate an authorized driver, who comes to pick up their belongings, stores them and transports them at the time and place indicated. At all times, the location of the luggage can be tracked in real time and contact can be made with the driver ---called a keeper by the company itself--- for its collection.

With prices that vary according to the number and dimensions of the luggage, LUGGit's rates range between 30 euros and 60 euros per service, amounts that also change according to the insurance contracted. The Portuguese company offers two different models as a security measure against a possible loss of luggage. Suitcases are covered by Standard insurance (for a value of €500) or Premium (for an amount of €1,200) ---which is paid as a deposit--- and sealed, in the presence of the client, with a buckle containing a QR code, which is what allows their location to be controlled.

LUGGit intends to establish itself in the next two years in at least ten European capitals, among which are Vienna and Prague. Barcelona has been the city chosen for its launch in the Spanish market "for having a very developed travel tech ecosystem and tourism very committed to tourist housing operators, such as Airbnb or Booking.com," says Ricardo Figuereido, CEO of LUGGit.

The landing in the Catalan capital has been carried out with a fleet of two electric vans, thus becoming the first city where the company opts for a sustainable mobility model. In addition, its drivers have technology that allows them to trace the best routes and, therefore, travel fewer kilometers.

"We developed a logistics algorithm that allows a keeper to make several collections on the same route, which means that we should not have a simple 1:1 correlation (1 client-1 keeper)," assures Figuereido. Thus, the startup's drivers take advantage of the same route to attend to different orders, a system that "allows optimizing each trip to the maximum."

The company has recently arrived in Barcelona with a fleet of two electric vans and several keepers

The application was conceived in 2018 and first launched in Lisbon in July 2019. By the end of that same year, it began operating in Porto and received an initial investment of 400,000 euros from Portugal Ventures, the largest venture capital investor in the neighboring country.