Australian based travel publisher Tripwell has launched its new digital platform, which looks to utilise social media for the purpose of travel planning and commerce.
The platform will power contextual eCommerce experiences for travellers around the globe, offering a one-stop shop for travel discovery and planning.
Social media has been a game-changer for the travel industry, and the company says it found almost 90% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers were trusting third-party content over a company.
While inspiration is found on social media, the company says currently on the market there is no way for consumers to use mechanisms to book directly through content without the time-consuming process of hunting it down on different sites and finding the best price.
Tripwell provides a new user experience that enables creators to publish and monetise their travel content through bookings while allowing consumers to book travel directly from creator content through the platforms booking partners.
Also as part of the new Tripwell platform, consumers can search content from their favourite creators, save photos and build their own future travel boards. This allows brands to connect with consumers through contextual eCommerce travel experiences that are enriched and authentic.
While companies like Instagram and Tiktok have used ingrained advertising in their content over the last year, Tripwell has created the first travel-focused platform and hopes it will inspire audience development and business growth.
Travel Photographer Dan Avila says the new technology prioritises the community and brings power back to content creators, who often cannot find suitable ways to monetise their work in an ever-expanding market. He says creators using Tripwells solution will also find they benefit with more commission from their work.
"Tripwell solves a few significant issues for content creators in the travel industry," he says.
"First, it prioritises the community, ensuring they are connected with bespoke experiences and recommendations from creators they trust. Importantly it also ensures that content creators can effectively monetise their posts, receiving the majority of the commission for their work.
"I'm excited to engage and work with Tripwell ongoing providing my audience with the best digital experiences."
Tripwell currently plans to increase the business's digital footprint, focusing on building both the creator and consumer experience and expanding its internal team.
"We have been on a journey for the past 18 months to intensely understand the changing tides in the eCommerce space and the next generation of online travel," says Tripwell co-founder and CEO Hayley Gray.
Her business partner and CTO Nick MacAvoy agrees and believes they have created the best technology solution for the market.
"Picking technology has many considerations: maturity of the tech, speed of development, scalability, support, community, licensing, cost, ease of hiring, performance and with our choices we believe we deliver on all the above and achieve our world-first travel product," he says.