Australian travel-tech startup TRAVLR is today launching its platform in New Zealand after successful Beta testing throughout early 2018, with launches in Indonesia, Fiji, the Pacific Islands, Sri Lanka and Dubai to follow later this year.
TRAVLR also announced it has entered into a Pacific-first partnership with global travel technology company, Amadeus, to provide strategic and technical backing, allowing TRAVLR to reach its goal of being in 20 destinations by 2020.
Co-founded by the brains behind the popular online Bali travel guide, The Bali Bible, TRAVLR offers a unique solution that goes beyond any current travel platform or Online Travel Agency (OTA), by serving the traveller at all five stages of the travel journey – Dream, Plan, Book, Experience and Share – all on one simple platform.
TRAVLR will use Amadeus’ advanced technology to personalise and create recommendations based on the individual traveller, by sourcing content from similar globetrotters worldwide. The launch follows Amadeus’ recent research, which found that Asia Pacific travellers seek what’s genuine, and turn to their fellow peers for travel inspiration – with reviews on online booking sites having the largest influence on people’s trip planning.
TRAVLR went through Amadeus for Startups – a global programme which assists entrepreneurs in breaking through the travel industry, by forming valuable relationships and strategic partnerships with Amadeus experts, enabling startups to gain essential insider industry support to fast-track their success.
Whilst the integration is still in progress, TRAVLR is already leveraging Amadeus’ inventory, delivered by Web Services, to interact with the global technology provider’s back-end system and access both air and hotel content. Once the integration is complete with Amadeus, TRAVLR will have access to over 484 airlines and more than 2.3 million hotel shopping options.
In addition, the Amadeus travel APIs will facilitate real time search and bookings, giving TRAVLR users a seamless experience for planning and booking travel online. TRAVLR will be using the hotel and flight APIs for the New Zealand launch and will consume more of the published services in the weeks after the launch.
Simon te Hennepe, CEO & Co-Founder, TRAVLR, said: “We’re excited to continue our rapid growth and expansion in 2018, with backing from Amadeus. To work with a like-minded and committed team, that is also focused on helping travellers to simply travel better, is a dream collaboration and partnership. Securing a spot in the Amadeus for Startups programme gave us access to resources, mentorship and introductions to influential people and companies I’d never imagine to meet, and was critical to our success.
“What is most exciting, is the feeling of this being a partnership: as from our side we can provide Amadeus with a great testing ground to roll out and develop new products or test new features. The balance of a large, global leader like Amadeus with a lean, agile and progressive startup like us, means we can both bring something to the table.”
Sébastien Gibergues, VP Online Travel Asia Pacific, Amadeus, said: “TRAVLR is built on the belief that all travellers are unique and that by connecting people with each other to share recommendations, lives will be enriched through better travel. Amadeus shares this belief. With this in mind, we are thrilled to be partnering with TRAVLR to provide strategic and technical backing.
“As the first Pacific startup going through the Amadeus for Startups programme, TRAVLR is a great example of how agile startup companies can leverage proven travel technology. Amadeus is proud to power innovation in travel, and we see this long term partnership as an opportunity to work with a startup that is offering a new experience to consumers.”
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