PRODUCT

tripwolf is a social travel guide for the discerning traveler that combines professional editorial travel content with user generated content – a collection of  experiences from thousands of travelers worldwide. With tripwolf, travelers can generate their own customized 10-20 page travel guide based on their individual preferences and recommendations from friends and “trip gurus”.  Soon travelers will be able to book their trips through tripwolf, too.

VISION

tripwolf aims to be the leading Web 2.0 travel guide, with a focus on Europe (for travelers going to Europe as well as Europeans traveling outside).

POSITIONING

tripwolf caters to the US and European markets with sites in English and German. tripwolf joins the rapidly growing online travel market which is by far the biggest e-commerce market worldwide. tripwolf benefits from the general trend towards individually planned trips (dynamic packaging) and away from standard package trips. Consumers demand more personalized and genuine travel experiences, no longer just cheap flights and hotels. tripwolf is the perfect tool for independent travelers, a “one-stop shop” where users can design their own trip with tips from the tripwolf community and an emphasis on the experiences of friends (their social graph). On tripwolf, travelers are guaranteed to find secret and off-the-beaten-path spots that are generally hard to find on web.

MARKETS

tripwolf is international and is being launched in English-speaking markets (US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) and German-speaking markets first (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). A Spanish-language version for Spain and Latin America will follow in 2009. Further planned: versions in French, Italian, Portuguese and Mandarin.

CURRENTLY ONLINE

• http://www.tripwolf.com
• http://www.tripwolf.at
• http://www.tripwolf.de
• http://www.tripwolf.ch
• http://www.tripwolf.co.uk

COMPANY INFORMATION

The tripwolf.com, tripwolf.de, tripwolf.at, tripwolf.ch and tripwolf.co.uk are online offerings of tripwolf GmBH.  tripwolf GmbH is based in Vienna, Austria with offices in New York and Budapest, Hungary, set up in 2007 and led by co-founders Sebastian Heinzel (CEO) and Alexander Trieb (COO) with a team of ten members.  MairDumont, Europe's leading travel publishers based in Stuttgart Germany, and American/Austrian web 2.0 incubator i5invest are the leading investors in tripwolf.
http://www.tripwolf.com

BIOGRAPHIES OF COMPANY CO-FOUNDERS

Sebastian Heinzel (s.heinzel@tripwolf.com)

Sebastian Heinzel (30) is the co-founder and CEO of tripwolf. He is a passionate globetrotter who has traveled to 65 countries and a former journalist who understands what producing good content is all about. After studying economics in the UK, Spain and Austria, he pursued a career in journalism, reporting from every corner of the earth for top German media outlets such as "profil", "Die Zeit" and "Spiegel Online", finally ending up in New York. He contributes not only eight years of experience with both “old” and “new” media to tripwolf, but also wide ranging managerial background – from managing a development project in the Peruvian Andes to serving on the board of one on Austria’s biggest pulp and paper companies.

Alexander Trieb (a.trieb@tripwolf.com)

Alexander Trieb (30) is the co-founder and COO of tripwolf, a travel enthusiast and global citizen having lived in Spain, Costa Rica, Austria and the US. He contributes over 10 years of internet and software industry experience to the tripwolf Team. During his bachelor studies at Boston University, he began his career by working for internet consulting and startup companies, in the initial dot.com era. His responsibilities ranged from business development, to product and technology development, successfully building several companies from the ground up. His return to Vienna, Austria in 2002 led him to finish his Masters degree with a distinction in Economics and Computer Science at the Business and Technology University of Vienna, and has since gained several years of experience in Project Management and IT Consulting, of large complex SOA-based distributed implementation projects at Capgemini, a leading European consulting company.

FAST FACTS ABOUT TRAVEL TRENDS

• In 2007 for the first time more trips were booked online than offline in the US.
• User-generated content is used for travel research and travel planning
• More than 70 % of people get their travel information and
• recommendations from family and friends (Yahoo travel)
• Travel information comes from a variety of sources, but friends and relatives are the number one source for information about places to visit or about flights, hotels or rental cars
• 42% of online travelers using user-generated content, consider the opinions of other travelers to be highly trustworthy and influential. (JupiterResearch)
• The travel industry is the largest e-commerce branch.
• A traveler with unclear travel plans tends to visit an average of 22 sites before booking a trip or hotel (comScore)
• Youth Travel, representing an estimated 20% of all international arrivals, is one of the tourism industry's fastest growing sectors. (travel industry wire)
• A new generation of 'flashpackers' (older backpackers with bigger budgets) is emerging, extending the 'youth travel' market to 30+ years (travel industry wire)
• More and more people are bypassing the traditional, two-week getaway in favor of mini-vacations of a week or less
• Nearly one-quarter of U.S. travelers, or 34.8 million U.S. adults, have taken a vacation by themselves in the past three years (TIA)
• Half of travel media users (50%) say they read, watch or listen to travel media at least once a month or once a week. About one third (31%) of travelers have decided to visit a travel destination because of information that they saw or read in the travel media. (TIA)

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