TLabs Showcase focus on startups featuring Manchester, UK-based TravelSpec.
Who and what are you (including personnel and backgrounds)?
Rafi Neumann, managing director of Travelspec.com. Previously worked for Flightmapping.com, graduated in accounting and finance from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2006, and holds a certificate in securities and derivatives from the Securities and Investment Institute. Started Flightdirection.com in 2007, which changed to Travelspec.com in 2009.
What financial support did you have to launch the business?
Investors took a large share in the website in 2008, and have acted as the financial arm of the site ever since.
What problem are you trying to solve?
If a user would like to travel from A to B (anywhere in the world), they needed a site that would give them all of this information in one place.
This information includes the different airlines that fly on the route (which is increasingly important with the growth of smaller and budget airlines, who are rarely marketed on the regular travel sites), alternative destinations, additional connections (if needed), and a place to compare prices of these flights.
Describe the business, core products and services?
Travelspec.com offers two core services, route planning and price comparison. The Route Finder tool allows the user to find out which airlines fly to and from any airport/city/country/state (if available).
The information is clearly displayed on an interactive map. From there the user can go to the airline’s website, or they can use the price comparison search function.
The Price Comparison search allows the user to input their requirements, and it will display prices from all appropriate airlines and online travel agency websites. The options are presented by ascending price, and the user can sort the information with filters to find any specific flight.
TravelSpec is also developing a tool that will give the user further flight options, including the creation of connections if there are not enough direct flights, searching for +/- 3 days, the ability to make the best use of budget airlines, and many more features.
Who are your key customers and users at launch?
TravelSpec is for leisure and business travellers. It is an information portal for anyone that wants to fly.
Did you have customers validate your idea before investors?
In order to find out exactly what the customer required a number of usability tests were carried out before the latest version of the site was built in. The investors were heavily involved in this process.
What is the business AND revenue model, strategy for profitability?
We will always offer the user a high quality free service, as this is what they want. Some of the airlines and online travel agency websites pay TravelSpec a commission for making a sale. We also plan to generate revenue from advertising on different parts of the site.
SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
Strengths:
- TravelSpec is a global site and totally independent, so users get objective results and the most comprehensive flight information available. A compare prices search will publish any fares that it can find online, and is open to any airline or travel agency that wishes to join. The interactive route finder map is easy to understand and navigate and makes route planning simple.
Weakness:
- The inferior technology used by some airlines for their websites means that it is often difficult for them to integrate and publish their fares on other sites.
Opportunities:
- A move into other modes of travel; car hire, ferries and rail travel, etc combined with more user generated content to provide hyper-local travel tips and highlights.
Threats:
- Travel companies who do not want to publish their data or pricing.
Who advised you your idea isn't going to be successful and why didn't you listen to them?Some business professionals who are involved in other online sectors, such as retail, advised us that marketing a website would be a very difficult task. However, in our view, due to the nature of our site – it is there to give users the most objective advise on their flight options available online – we are confident that visitors will be attracted to the site through its own merit, and it will help to spread the word to the online community.
What is your success metric 12 months from now?
Looking forward to a year from now, we would like to see TravelSpec being one of the prime tools that is used by the online community to look for flights, whether it be route information, price comparison, flight alternatives, or a combination of these services.
We also hope to have expanded into other parts of the world, especially Asia.
TLabs Showcase is part of the wider TLabs project from Tnooz.