TourRadar – online intermediary specialized in multiday tours
«the world’s largest online travel agency for multi-day tours»
(Forbes, 2019)
by Veronika Surkic & Inna Milashevskaia
TourRadar is an Austrian company that was launched in the year 2010 by Australian brothers Travis and Shawn Pittman. It operates as an online marketplace and booking engine that specialized in the multi-day tours.
The main goal of the company to make every tour in the world discoverable by bringing the key players in the tour industry closer together. The company serves travelers with an incredible interface to easily find necessary tours according to their preferences. For the tour operators, it is absolutely free of charge to be listed on the platform, the fee only applies to every confirmed booking. For travelers, it’s also free of charge to book through the TourRadar.
Image 2: Example of tour in Austria listed on TourRadar (TourRadar, 2020).
Shifting the multiday tour image
TourRadar’s innovative approach to multiday tours is to sell the experience rather than the packages. They have altered the negative perception of multiday tours as ‘following an umbrella’ and shifted it into transformational experiences adding to the value proposition in their e-mediary role.
Technology innovation
“Around 90% of the multi-day tours are still booked offline, through offline travel agents.” Travis Pitman, TourRadar CEO (PhocusWire, 2019)
Making use of ICTs development, TourRadar created a platform with a meta-search function to offer travel information online. The platform was created using XML files and API files connected to the GDS system. Such technology-enabled tour operators to be visible online and largely increase the distribution. Strong SEO methods help the users to easily find the information online. The platform’s UI features activity- and experience-based filtering options in the type of travel search process. Their USP positively influenced the user experience for both tour operators and customers, which lead to an increased number of online bookings in the multiday tour niche.
Image 3: Innovative approach of TourRadar (TourRadar LinkedIn Slideshare, 2016)
Step into the future
TourRadar is assessed as one of the most successful Austrian start-ups. Since their take off, they have raised more than €65M in funding. The company presents itself very strongly on the market for over 10 years and plans to further expand its team globally. Their future plans include investing in its technology to provide a more personalized user experience for customers.
The key challenges anticipated in the future are the rising number of competitors in the niche as well as the global impact of the Covid19 crisis. TourRadar’s advantage over the competitors is a quality partner network with more than 2500 tour operators. Their emphasis on strong customer support helps them deal with the Covid19 situation, which has highly impacted the tourism industry and the global economy in general.