Travelwhere to launch new tours comparison site

Travelwhere to launch new tours comparison site

A tours comparison website www.SomewhereSpecial.travel has been developed by travel technology firm Travelwhere. Continue reading

A tours comparison website www.SomewhereSpecial.travel has been developed by travel technology firm Travelwhere.

The initiative follows a surge of consumer and trade interest in escorted tours and experiential holidays.

More than 11,000 tours from over 50 escorted and private tours specialists are held in the site, including 19 members of the Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers.

The platform has been designed to provide convenience, choice and comparison all on one page – saving consumers and agents time researching numerous different sites for the right destination and tour itinerary, according to Travelwhere founder Ian Champness.

Visitors to the website can browse through hundreds of destination articles, matched to specific tours.

The first agent white label platform will go live shortly.

Champness said: “The range of touring holidays out there is huge and diverse.

“We believe this sector needs a tours comparison website where users can search for touring and adventure destinations, see the tours in detail, and the operators who offer them.

“We’ve made the new site responsive to accommodate the rise in web access over mobile devices and the name change better reflects these are special places for special holidays from specialist operators.”

He added: “Coinciding with the recent formation of Atas, our aim is to build awareness of the product range within the touring and adventure sector and drive new and qualified leads to operators.

“We don’t believe any holiday comparison site has yet succeed in marrying inspiration with operator information for this sector.

“However, the platform could equally work for agents who are recognising the value and growth in this sector, as evidenced with the number of operators joining Atas who want to work closely with agents.

“Our white label platform is a sales tool solution to help agents’ sales staff improve booking conversion.”

Champness said: “For operator and agent the key metric is conversion. The aim is to encourage visitors to engage and turn inspiration into action and call or email the specialist operators direct as a more effective way to improve conversion and lower the cost of sale.

“We do not take any bookings – our commercial model remains unchanged, as a digital marketing platform with a choice of online lead generation referrals and/or destination sponsorship.

“The aim has always been one of referral and our primary purpose is to be part of the research and searching journey – to help would-be travellers and agents find ideas about iconic and special places in the world and choose a tour from the operators who can take them there.”