A social networking portal aimed at business travellers has been launched encouraging its members to share travel tips.
Myvillageinternational.com aims for 100,000 members in five years
A social networking portal aimed at business travellers has been launched encouraging its members to share travel tips.
The founders of Myvillageinternational.com say it allows members to appear registered in a range of different locations as they travel internationally on business.
The site is aiming to have 3,000 members in its first year rising to 100,000 within five years.
Initially launched in French and English members already hail from16 different countries and 99% are professionals, while the remainder are students.
It was established by a group of friends to provide fellow corporate travelers with social and business networking opportunities.
The site also allows members to share travel tips including how to reduce CO2 emissions and information about the places they are visiting.
Members can share their travel itineraries through a calendar function and sign up to events or host get togethers.
They can also use forums to post information about their businesses and to set up tailored profiles for different business and social circles.
Kathy Vuillaume, director of Myvillageinternational.com, said: “The idea first occurred because of our own experiences of travelling extensively on business throughout Europe.
“Women in particular find it difficult to do simple things like go to a restaurant or bar on their own, so they end up ordering room service and staying in their hotel room, rather than enjoying the local environment and meeting people.
“We tried to find a social networking site that was offering this type of service, but couldn’t.
“Facebook is geared towards friends, LinkedIn is very business-oriented, and we really wanted to connect with professionals with international lifestyles who travel regularly and have several addresses.
“None of these other traditional sites enable you to appear registered in different locations.”
Future plans for Myvillageinternational.com include a smartphone app and a car-share scheme for members, the viability of which is being investigated by the University of Surrey.
Paul Krause, professor of software engineering at the University of Surrey said: “We are using latest techniques to ensure the smart phone app will work across all major device types.
“More interestingly, we are developing some innovative tools to enable us to introduce a range of location aware services. We believe this will reinforce the lead MVI has as the leading social networking site for business people on the move.”
