Port Elizabeth can boast of many Travel Bloggers and experts sharing their travels, hopes and aspirations. Invariably what happens after a year or three of great enthusiasm is that the Travel Bloggers give up as they realise that making money to sustain their habit is quite difficult.
After all you can only live for so long out of a suitcase!
Personally I have used many travel and accommodation portals to help supplement my meagre income – the preferred model is one of an affiliate. Affiliates promote a product and get a commission from every sale. My longest standing affilliate relationship is with a local Cape Town based company called SafariNow.
I confess that I have been feeling a bit uneasy about SafariNow and worry about ‘disappearing commissions’ as their affilliate dashboard is NOT the most transparent that I deal with. Consequently I have been looking for another programme to try out and TRVL.com is the first one I have actuall signed up to in two years of looking.
TRVL is a smart and fast growing travel booking platform that claims to be revealing the secrets of the Travel Industry. It gives travellers full access to industry rates and exclusive deals, pays a commission of up to 15% on every booking, and provides peer-to-peer travel advice.
TRVL received US$ 3.5million in funding to become a global player with millions of users and has recently launched in South Africa as part of a global roll out.
For entrepreneurial travellers TRVL provides a “Make Money From Home” earning model: on every booking they can earn a commission.
Paul English, founder of Kayak: “Love the concept. TripAdvisor with an earning model.”
Founder Jochem Wijnands sold his previous company Prss to Apple for an undisclosed amount. Prss is the mobile publishing platform that became Apple News.
Wijnands: “We’re living in the DIY age of travel bookings, and TRVL is rewarding you for acting like your own travel agent. TRVL also gives access to unbelievable industry discounts of up to 65%, normally off-limits to travellers.”
Wijnands: “With TRVL, the local experience of other travellers is available during the booking process; on demand and personalized. This is the next logical step in peer-based travel advise.”
TRVL’s research shows that 91.7% of the respondents value personal recommendations highly or very highly.
One of TRVL’s industry partnerships is with Booking.com, global leader in connecting travellers with the widest choice of incredible places to stay. Bryan Batista, Senior Director of Partnerships at Booking: “Consumers explore new ways to discover and book trips, we’re always looking to make that experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible. TRVL’s peer-based concept is interesting, and we’re happy to offer more than 1.4 million unique places to stay via their platform.
TRVL’s COO is Arthur Hoffman, a travel industry veteran. Hoffman: “When deciding where in Africa to launch first, the choice was easy. South Africa is a nation of passionate travellers.” This reflects in the most recent market research:
Online travel sales to recorded current value growth of 9% in 2017 to reach ZAR36.5 billion. Source Euromonitor Sept 2017.
TRVL now have a presence in the following countries:
- US/Canada
- UK
- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- The Netherlands
See my page on TRVL: https://portelizabeth.trvl.com – if you DO sign up don’t forget to report back in the comments section on whether the program worked for you or not.
TRVL – Explainer Video from TRVL on Vimeo.
Alan Straton
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