A digital platform that connects tourists with local guides in Sri Lanka.
Built to promote sustainable tourism, authentic travel experiences, and empower local guides.

---

---

📚 Project Overview

GuidMeLK is a responsive web platform designed to directly connect tourists with local tour guides in Sri Lanka. Tourists can search, compare, and book guides based on destination, language, price, and reviews, while guides can showcase their services and availability.

The platform also supports real-time chat, secure payments, and ratings/reviews, helping to build trust and promote sustainable tourism.

This project is developed as part of the Independent Study Project I for the ICT degree program at Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka (2022/2023 Batch).

---

🚀 Key Features

• 🔐 User Authentication & Roles

  • Email/password login with JWT
  • Google Sign-in with NextAuth
  • Email verification via Nodemailer
  • Role-based dashboards: Tourist / Guide / Admin

• 👤 Profile Management

  • Tourists: update personal info, preferences
  • Guides: showcase services, pricing, languages, availability
  • Admin: monitor users, disputes, and reports

• 💬 Real-time Messaging

  • Built with Socket.IO
  • One-to-one and one-to-many chat between tourists and guides
  • Seen/delivered indicators

• 📅 Booking System

  • Tourists can book guides directly
  • Advance payment (20%) and remaining balance handling
  • Guide availability management

• 💳 Payments (Planned)

  • Support for Card, Bank Transfer, and PayPal
  • Records stored in MongoDB (payments collection)
  • Advance vs. Remaining payment logic

• ⭐ Reviews & Ratings

  • Tourists can review guides after trips
  • Rating system to highlight top guides

• 🔔 Notifications

  • New booking alerts
  • Payment confirmations
  • Review & rating updates

• 🛡️ Admin Dashboard

  • Manage users, bookings, disputes
  • Monitor transactions
  • Oversee platform activity

---

🛠️ Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	Next.js (React), Tailwind CSS
Backend	Next.js API routes (Node.js)
Database	MongoDB
Auth	JWT, NextAuth (Google Sign-in)
Email	Nodemailer (for email verification)
Messaging	Socket.IO
Version Control	Git + GitHub
Design	Figma & Canva

---

🏗️ System Development Approach

The project follows the Waterfall model, with phases for requirement gathering, design, implementation, testing, and deployment. Each step is completed before moving to the next, ensuring a structured development flow.

---

⚙️ Setup & Installation

Follow these steps to run GuidMeLK locally on your computer:

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/chamod-malindu/guidemelk-web-project.git
cd guidemelk-web-project

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Create a .env.local File

MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string

JWT_SECRET=guidemelkdb12345

EMAIL_USER=your_email@example.com
EMAIL_PASS=your_email_password
NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000 

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_google_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_google_client_secret
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your_nextauth_secret
NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000

4. Run the Development Server

npm run dev

---

👥 Team Members

Meet the development team behind GuidMeLK (Group 08 – UWU/ICT/22):

Name	Role	GitHub	LinkedIn
Chamod Malindu	Full Stack Developer & Planning	@chamod-malindu	Chamod Kariyawasam
Poojani Ranasinghe	Frontend Developer & Designer	@PoojaniRanasinghe	Poojani Ranasinghe
Chamodi Aponsu	Project Management & Development Support	@ChamodiAponsu	Chamodi Aponsu
Thisara Randima	UI/UX Designer	@Thisara Randima	Thisara Randima
Hiruni Pamudika	Documentation & Quality Assurance (QA)	@hiruni7	Hiruni Pamudika

---

💡 Why We Built This

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry contributes significantly to the economy, yet tourists struggle to directly connect with reliable local guides. Existing platforms mainly highlight travel agencies rather than freelance guides. GuidMeLK aims to:

• Empower local guides with a direct digital platform
• Help tourists find authentic, cultural travel experiences
• Promote sustainable tourism by supporting local talent
• Build trust through reviews, ratings, and secure payments

---

🔮 Future Enhancements

To continue improving GuidMeLK, we plan to introduce the following features in future versions:

• 💳 Complete Payment Gateway Integration
  Enable real-time secure transactions via PayPal, Stripe, and direct bank transfers, allowing tourists to pay guides safely within the platform.

• 📱 Mobile App Version
  Develop a cross-platform mobile app using React Native or Flutter for a more accessible travel experience.

• 🌍 Multi-language Support
  Introduce multi-language options to make the platform more inclusive for international tourists.

• 🧭 AI-based Guide Recommendations
  Implement AI algorithms to recommend guides based on user preferences, past trips, and ratings.

• 📢 Advanced Notification System
  Add push notifications and real-time alerts for bookings, messages, and payment confirmations.

• 🧾 Admin Analytics Dashboard
  Provide real-time insights for administrators with data visualizations on user engagement, bookings, and transactions.

---

🏁 Conclusion

GuidMeLK serves as a bridge between tourists and local guides, fostering trust, convenience, and sustainable tourism in Sri Lanka.
Through its innovative features — from real-time communication to verified profiles — the platform helps tourists enjoy authentic experiences while empowering local guides with new opportunities.

---

🖼️ Project Screenshots

🏠 Landing Page

🧭 Guide Registration Form

💳 Payment Options

💬 Chat Page

---

⚠️ License Notice

This project is protected under a custom license. It is intended for educational and portfolio use only.

Unauthorized commercial use, hosting, or redistribution is strictly prohibited.