Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 17, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Tripwolf gives travelers the opportunity to compile and print a personal guide to their chosen destination with just a few clicks before a trip—drawing on tips from friends and acquaintances as well as recommendations from local “trip gurus.”
The foundation is the verified, high-quality content of the MairDumont group, an established name in German-language publishing with brands including Marco Polo, DuMont, and Falk. User-generated content and material from external sources (Wikipedia text, Flickr photos, YouTube videos) can also be found on tripwolf. From launch, tripwolf users can therefore access information on 200,000 destinations, attractions, hotels, and other places.
During and after a trip, travel enthusiasts can use tripwolf to exchange experiences: they can provide sightseeing tips and hotel recommendations, add new destinations, upload travel photos, keep travel diaries, and display their routes on a map. They can also connect with friends and travelers around the world—and import contacts from social networks such as Facebook into tripwolf.
Tripwolf has been designed as an international service from the outset and launches in German and English. “We want to become Europe’s leading online travel guide,” says founder and co-managing director Sebastian Heinzel, himself an experienced world traveler. “And with a partner as strong as MairDumont, we will achieve that.”
Heinzel places particular emphasis on participation at tripwolf: “According to surveys, 70 percent of all travelers seek information from family, friends, and acquaintances,” says Heinzel. “Tripwolf represents that on a clear and easy-to-use community platform.”
MairDumont is convinced by tripwolf’s trailblazing concept—in the truest sense of the word. “We believe the intelligent combination of our expert knowledge with the experiences of thousands of travelers is the future,” says publisher Stephanie Mair-Huydts. “With tripwolf, we use all the advantages of the internet and Web 2.0.”
Markus Wagner, founder of internet incubator i5invest, is also enthusiastic about tripwolf, now his fifth investment. “The travel market is the world’s largest e-commerce market, and there is enormous momentum in it,” says Wagner, who looks forward to integrating travel bookings into tripwolf. “Europeans still book online far less often than Americans, but they are catching up strongly. There is huge potential.”
In the United States, a majority of all travel was booked online for the first time in 2007: Americans spent almost $100 billion online on travel last year. In Europe, around one quarter of all bookings to date—worth just under €50 billion—are handled through websites, and the trend is rising sharply.
