Bangkok--10 Nov--Marketwire
After two and a half years of ground breaking technology development, AdventureLink, Inc., in partnership with VAX VacationAccess, today announced the launch of the world's first global distribution system (GDS) for the adventure travel industry. Using AdventureLink.com, travel agencies will be able to locate adventure travel tour operators worldwide and book tours using this platform. AdventureLink.com makes its debut at the World Travel Market in London, November 10 - 13, 2008, the world leading tourism and travel show for international tour operators and travel agents. AdventureLink launches to over 70,000 leisure travel agents in North America this week on the VAX VacationAccess platform which presently transacts over 40,000 transactions per week.
"We are very excited about launching AdventureLink.com -- just in time for the World Travel Market," notes AdventureLink President Michael Culhane. "AdventureLink is the first GDS for the adventure travel marketplace, long thought of as a niche market. However now, with baby boomers spending an average of $126 billion annually, it is a leading segment of the travel market. Whether they are seeking a private photo safari in Botswana, rafting down the Yangtze River, dog sledding in Sweden, or extreme skiing in British Columbia, consumers want the opportunity to get out and explore the world. With AdventureLink, we look forward to creating the world's largest marketplace for booking adventure travel."
Phase One of AdventureLink's rollout will bring independent tour operators from across the globe front and center to thousands of travel agencies to market their services. AdventureLink's quick, user-friendly technology, which is free to tour operators, will allow them to upload their trips in minutes. Whereas before, their trips got lost in hundreds of pages of search engine-produced results. With AdventureLink, tour operators will be showcased under multiple categories in a user-friendly format that makes comparison shopping easy. The increased visibility will not only highlight formerly invisible small tour operators, but will open up new areas of adventure travel to millions of consumers and travel agencies eager to do business with them. For the first time, tour operators with a complex travel product will be able to showcase their trips on a system that provides access to the entire worldwide travel agency market.
Phase 2 will roll AdventureLink out to Travelocity and other major, North American online travel agencies. In the first quarter of 2009, AdventureLink will deploy Phase 3 which will open up access to consumers, allowing them to book through AdventureLink.com and associated web affiliate partner web sites.
AdventureLink is the largest online source for travel professionals and consumers to book adventure travel with over 60,000 trips offered by over 2,000 tour operators from 164 countries, worldwide. For more information, go to: www.adventurelink.com.
For more information contact:
James Shamenski
AdventureLink, Inc.
Phone: 1 310 658-5116
[email protected]