Vienna/Austria, April 7th 2009. A hotel in Rome, the best ice-cream in Naples or the hippest Club in Milan? That and more is now available on the new Italian version of the online Travel-Guide http://tripwolf.com/it. So far, tripwolf offers over 400.000 travel destinations worldwide and combines up-to-date infos with detailed descriptions for individual travelers- after versions in German, English and French the portal now offers it’s content also in Italian.
Around 600.000 international travel enthusiasts have been using the only nine month old portal to gather information on destinations so far. The info available consists of a combination of professional Travel-Guide content by connaisseurs such as MairDumont (Dumont and Marco Polo-Guides) or the british Footprint publishing with user generated content by travelers and locals in the respective countries. Trip-Gurus, designated travel-specialists by the tripwolf team, are also part of the online-portal and share their know-how with the travel-crowd.
Category Archives: Press Info
The Online-Travel Guide tripwolf.com is all about the Dolce Vita
Online travel guide tripwolf now fully available in french
Vienna, March 19 2009. Starting today, Online travel guide tripwolf is also fully available in french at http://www.tripwolf.com/fr. Thus more than 400.000 descriptions of travel destinations are now available in french, after being online in german and english. Since tripwolf’s launch 8 months ago, more than 600.000 travel-enthusiasts not only gather information from high quality editorial travel guide content, which comes from leading partners such as MairDumont (Dumont- and Marco Polo travel guides) or british Footprint Publishing house, but also authentic and up-to-date information from both local travle experts (”trip gurus”) and reviews and additional pieces of information provided by the tripwolf users.
Footprint Travel Guides and tripwolf Announce Partnership
Berlin, March 12th 2009. Today social travel guide tripwolf (http://www.tripwolf.com) announces a partnership with Footprint Books, the publishers of the longest running travel guides in the English market. The first act of the new partnership is integrating Footprint’s Peru Handbook into tripwolf’s web platform and mobile version.
“It is fantastic to see Peru content from our Footprint Handbooks on tripwolf.com and on the beta version of the tripwolf iPhone application”, says Footprint Marketing Manager, Liz Harper. “We looked at various potential partners to make Footprint content available through new channels and tripwolf has clearly convinced us with their innovative approach and unique offerings for users.”
With this partnership, tripwolf.com strengthens its strategy of combining professional editorial travel content with user-generated content from thousands of globetrotters worldwide. On tripwolf.com individual travellers can create their personalized travel guides, based on recommendations from expert “trip gurus,” friends and other travellers.
“Personally, Footprint Handbooks have been my favourite travel guides for years,” says tripwolf CEO Sebastian Heinzel. “On my trips to Peru, India and Vietnam I have been impressed by the breadth and depth of their coverage. I cannot imagine a better English language partner for tripwolf.”
For the German version of its platform, tripwolf entered into a partnership with the MairDumont Group, publishers of the German “Marco Polo” travel guides, last year. tripwolf versions in French, Italian and Spanish will be launched this spring.
Alternative Spring Break 2009
May not be MTV but still just as wild- Check out tripwolf’s not to miss places in Africa
New York–February 19, 2009–Spring break has college students booking airplane tickets to warm Caribbean beach destinations like Panama City, the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. As fun as relaxing on white sand is, the world offers too much to head to the same location year after year. So this year, plan an alternative spring break — and head over to Africa.
tripwolf, an online social travel guide, has compiled the top “not to miss” locations in Africa as voted by its users. The community spoke, and tripwolf listened. Here is the best of Africa list they came up with:
tripwolf Announces Top US Sunset Spots for this Valentine’s Day - With a few surprises in Michigan, Texas and Tennessee
January 29, 2009–New York–To celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, social travel guide tripwolf.com has released its top fifteen sunsets to catch in the US. After researching all of North America for romantic sunset spots, tripwolf selected five locations in Florida, four spots in Michigan, three beach-side sunsets in Hawaii, two in Texas and one rooftop view in Tennessee.
tripwolf.com’s Top 15 Romantic Sunsets include:
5 in Florida: Key West, Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Sanibel Island, and South Walton Beach;
4 in Michigan: Petoskey, Ludington, Traverse City, and Oval Beach in Saugatuk;
3 in Hawaii: Papohaku Beach on Molokai, Front Street in Lahaina on Maui, and Mauna Kea Resort in Kamuela on the Big Island;
2 in Texas: Wildcatter Ranch and Resort in Graham and the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin;
1 in Tennessee: the rooftop view at the Madison Hotel in Memphis.
“Everyone appreciates the beauty of a sunset–be it on the beach or over a cityscape.” says Sebastian Heinzel, tripwolf CEO. “We want to break out of the usual ‘dinner and candy’ and provide ideas for an alternative romantic plan this Valentine’s Day.”
tripwolf users are encouraged to upload photos, share stories and add comments about their romantic Valentine’s Day plans to the site. Details on each of the 15 locations and more are located at http://www.tripwolf.com/en/page/valentine. For more information on tripwolf, visit www.tripwolf.com.
tripwolf Closes Second Funding Round — Despite difficult financial times, Austrian Web 2.0 start-up secures investment
NEW YORK, NY. January 22, 2009—Online travel guide tripwolf announces a second round of funding. The MairDumont Group, Europe’s largest publisher of travel information, has invested for the second time in the Vienna-based web 2.0 start-up. By strengthening its commitment to tripwolf, the MairDumont group aims to play a leading role in the digital market as well.
“Travel and mobility online are part of our core business,” says Stephanie Mair-Huydts, Publisher. “Despite the financial crisis, we want to expand our position in the online market. tripwolf is the perfect extension of our current offerings.”
Additionally, renowned German publisher Dieter von Holtzbrinck has signed on as a co-investor. Dieter is confident and enthusiastic about both the tripwolf concept as well as the competent and creative management team.
“We are proud to have the trust of such reputable companies and individuals,” says Sebastian Heinzel, CEO of tripwolf, who is excited by the willingness of investors from the print world to support innovative online business models. “We have big plans for 2009, including site launches in French, Spanish and Italian, and a tripwolf iPhone application.”
tripwolf, a next generation travel guide, launched in June 2008 in German and English. The platform combines professionally created content with user-generated content - reviews, tips, photos and travel blogs – from thousands of travelers all over the world. Currently, the tripwolf community has nearly 15,000 members, including one thousand “trip gurus“ who provide personal travel tips.
Dido and tripwolf Announce a Travel Photography Competition — Win an autographed Dido lithograph on tripwolf
Social travel guide tripwolf.com and RCA Label Group announce today the launch of an exclusive photo competition with international multi-million selling artist, Dido, for the grand prize of a signed lithograph of Dido’s newest album Safe Trip Home. The winner will also receive a CD of the album, as will the five runners up. To win, entrants simply post photographs that fall into one of three categories on the competition page, found at http://www.tripwolf.com/en/page/competition/dido.
Submission are now being accepted in the following categories:
* Last photo before heading home from traveling;
* Best travel photo; and,
* Best adventure photo.
“We are thrilled to be working with RCA Label Group to present our users with this wonderful opportunity, and to work with such an acclaimed artist as Dido,” says Sebastian Heinzel, tripwolf CEO. “There is nothing like traveling to make you appreciate home. So this album is especially significant to our community of globetrotters.”
The competition will run for a full month. A combination of tripwolf and RCA representatives will judge the submissions, and the winners will be announced shortly after the closing of the competition on January 15, 2009. Guidelines and rules can be found on the tripwolf competition page http://www.tripwolf.com/en/page/competition/dido.
tripwolf is a collaborative social network where members share travel experiences, give real-time advice and search for both user-generated and professional editorial travel content on the best places to visit.
TRIPWOLF ANNOUNCES TOP NORTH AMERICA DESTINATIONS TO CELEBRATE A CRAZY NEW YEAR’S EVE
Social travel guide tripwolf.com has released its top five crazy New Year’s Eve ideas. The site, which has over 13,000 international members, compiled the list after researching all of North America for the more creative ways to celebrate.
www.tripwolf.com’s Top Five alternative ways to spend New Year’s Eve include:
• Midnight Skydiving at Skydive City (Zephyrhills, FL)
• Polar Bear Swim at English Bay Beach (Vancouver, B.C. )
• Midnight Yoga at Bikram Yoga LES (New York City, NY)
• Sledding at Snow Mountain (Atlanta, Georgia)
• 9-Foot Lollypop Drop (Hummelstown, Pa) and other drops too!
“The best way to start into the new year is doing something you have never done before,” says Sebastian Heinzel, tripwolf CEO. “Our list is for explorers who want an adventure that deviates from the traditional New Year’s Eve party or ball drop.”
tripwolf users are encouraged to upload comments, photos and stories of their New Year’s Eve adventures to the site. Details on each of the five locations and more are located at http://www.tripwolf.com/en/page/2009. For more information on tripwolf, visit www.tripwolf.com.
eMarketer Interview with Sebastian Heinzel: Seeing Social Travel Sites Anew
AN INTERVIEW WITH:
Sebastian Heinzel
Co-Founder, CEO, tripwolf
July 31, 2008
Sebastian Heinzel and Alexander Trieb founded tripwolf, a social travel guide that caters to 20- and 30-something “flashpackers” from Europe and the US. Based in Vienna, with offices in New York City and Budapest, the site combines information from professional travel writers with user-generated content, including media from Flickr, Wikipedia and YouTube.
tripwolf Users Expand Their Networks to Win Free FON Routers
tripwolf, an online social travel guide, is hosting a competition with FON WiFi to award free FON routers to those who build the largest networks in tripwolf’s community. tripwolf will name two winners every two weeks from October 15 to November 25. The goal of the tripwolf-FON collaboration is to rally a community of traveling, Internet-users who will create a network of free Internet around the world.
tripwolf is a collaborative social network where members share travel experiences, give real-time advice and search for user-generated information on the best places to visit. The competition mirrors the natural community building experience of the tripwolf site—awarding one point for each friend and ten points for each new member referral.
“tripwolf members are on the Internet all the time, whether it’s using our Facebook application or asking their network which hotel is the best in Madrid,” said Sebastian Heinzel, tripwolf CEO. “We’re working with FON in order to develop a culture where people can arrive in any city and feel confident that free WiFi is available.”
tripwolf will announce the final winners on Tuesday, November 25. To enroll in the FON competition, visit www.tripwolf.com/en/page/foncompetition. For more information on tripwolf, visit www.tripwolf.com.
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About tripwolf
tripwolf gives travelers the opportunity to create—and print—a personalized travel guide for any destination. Travel information is a compilation of tips from members, network friends, destination “trip gurus” and MairDumont, Europe’s largest travel guide publisher. Users also can publish individualized content about their own travel experiences, including YouTube videos, Flickr photos and travel journals. Additionally, tripwolf members can network with other travelers from around the world, as well as import their contacts from social networks such as Facebook. For more information on tripwolf, visit www.tripwolf.com.
About FON
FON is the world’s largest WiFi community. FON’s mission is to stimulate the growth of WiFi around the world by creating a global community of “Foneros”. FON’s La Fonera routers have been designed to enable Foneros to share their home Internet access in a completely secure manner. Founded in February 2006 in Madrid, Spain, FON investors include Google, Skype, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital and British Telecom. Currently FON has over 250.000 hotspots worldwide and more than 900,000 registered members in Europe, Asia and America.
For more information, visit FON at www.fon.com.
