EXPLORA: A Cross-Platform Mobile Application for Matching Compatible Travel Companions Using Proximity and Preference-Based Filtering

Planned trips frequently fall through when a companion cancels at the last minute, and solo travellers often struggle to find reliable people to travel with. This report presents Explora, a cross-platform mobile application that connects travellers who share destinations, travel dates, budgets and travel styles, and who are geographically close to each other. Explora is built with Flutter (Dart) for the user interface and Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions and Cloud Messaging) for the backend. A rule-based matching module compares the preference profiles of users and returns a compatibility percentage; an interactive map built with Flutter Map shows nearby travellers within an adjustable search radius. The application also provides real-time one-to-one and group chat, collaborative itinerary planning, shared-expense tracking, and a post-trip rating and reporting system intended to build community trust. The report documents the requirements, architecture, data model, implementation and testing of the system, and evaluates it through functional testing and user acceptance testing with a small group of beta users. It also discusses the limitations of the current rule-based approach and outlines a path towards learned, collaborative-filtering recommendation.