Travel Forward 2021: Travelgenix launches widget-based travel website builder

Start-up can create exact replicas of leading travel sites within 48 hours for £99-a-month

Start-up travel technology company Travelgenix has developed a widget-based travel website builder allowing firms to develop replicas of the sector’s leading sites from just £99 a month.

The firm, founded by experienced travel technology entrepreneur Andy Speight, has developed a collection of over 100 travel and non-travel widgets since April.

They have been created to use on the Duda website builder platform although the technology supports a wide range of other platforms, including WordPress.

Subscribers to the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) can choose which of these widgets they want to incorporate to create their own bespoke fully transactional, multi-lingual, multi-currency websites.

Speight said as proof of concept, TravelGenix used the widgets to replicate many of the leading travel websites like Expedia, booking.com, Love Holidays, Travel Republic and Thomas Cook in look and feel.

He said the concept of combining simple and configurable widget-based technology and best-in-breed generic web platforms will give travel firms of all sizes the ability to compete online.

“We can turn out a full website in 24 to 48 hours,” said Speight. “How did we prove that’s possible? We copied 10 of the biggest sites in travel using our widgets.

“We can do it very quickly. The widgets are all ready built and easy to configure. Doing it this way meant we could come out with a really competitive monthly cost – the price of a coffee every day.

“Websites using our widgets can look like anything you want them to look like, they’re mobile responsive, multi-lingual and multi-currency.”

Travelgenix has connected to a network of suppliers, consolidators and GDSs for accommodation, flights, holiday ancillaries and extras and content.

The widgets offered cover core travel features like flights and accommodation search and book fields, and non-travel services like live chat, reviews and social integrations.

“From our perspective this is all about a numbers game because it’s about having a volume of clients using the platform. We are targeting 1,000 customers over the next three years,” said Speight.

The £99-a-month lead-in price assumes no extra development is required, but Speight said up front costs will not exceed £2,500. Clients are able to end their subscription with just a month’s notice.

But Speight said he expects to see good retention rates due to the quality and easy-of-use of technology that will offer return on investment and be improved as more widgets are added.

“SaaS for travel is definitely the future,” he said. “The margins in travel are so tight nowadays unless you are a big player you don’t have the funds available to invest heavily.

“SaaS has been around for years and there are lots of great models out there, like Microspoft Office, the ultimate SaaS model.

“In travel because of legacy systems and cost structure it’s been impossible to switch, but if you are coming at this afresh at a time when most systems are SaaS of some description it’s common sense.”

Speight expects Travelgenix’s widget software to appeal to start-ups, established OTAs looking to improve their web presence, and niche operators wanting individual sites for their specialisms.