A wave of innovation is sweeping through the online travel industry. While the traditional travel companies are falling over themselves to produce their first mobile site, or their very own iPhone app, elsewhere, online innovators are looking to make changes to travel fundamentals, from better ways to discover travel destinations to new ways to purchase hotels and flights.
The resurgence in interest in online travel is not limited to the West. There are companies right here in Asia looking to get started in online travel as well. However, while Asia now sports its own share of Airbnb clones and Kayak wannabes, we’ve yet to see any uniquely Asian travel innovators arise.
It’s only a matter of time before they appear, but what form will they take? Will they provide us with Asian versions of existing models, or will it be something we can’t foresee, something completely new?
In an attempt to gain some possible insights in what might be coming, here’s a quick look at some of today’s more interesting travel innovators, all of which are based in either North America or Europe.
Wanderfly — matching people’s interests with destinations
USP: Billing itself as a “travel inspiration” site, Wanderfly excels at helping people discover destinations that match their interests. The search is non-traditional, allowing users to specify their interests, and then set a region or a country, a date range and a budget.
The search results present the users with a list of destinations that match the request, along with information about the destination. Users can save their favorites and share the ideas with their friends. The site also supports booking of flights and hotels through partnerships with Orbitz and Hotels.com.
Challenges: The business model is premised on affiliate revenue from Orbitz and Hotels.com. By not carrying their own inventory, Wanderfly faces challenges in improving their margins. The site also faces several technical challenges. The first version of Wanderfly was launched using Flash technology, which sadly restricted their ability to reach mobile users.
The system’s search results are also sometimes a bit hit or miss. By way of example, a recent search for watersport destinations in late June returned only three results, two of which were for ski resorts in Japan.
A new version of Wanderfly is purported to be right around the corner; rumor has it that it will be launched without the limitations of the Flash platform. Will the new version of Wanderfly also solve their search issues and allow the site to make the transition from interesting tool to game-changer?
Backing: The Wanderfly crew have been exceptionally good at engaging the media and finding content partners. The group started with a US$ 400,000 seed round in late 2009. In February 2011, they closed a US$ 1 million Series A round lead by Charles River Ventures.
Other high profile investors include Jason Calacanis. The team has also secured a strategic partnership with the New York Times for destination information and have struck content deals with FourSquare and Yelp.
Hipmunk — a new way of ranking flights and hotels
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