Web 2.0 can be a very empowering movement that cuts out middlemen and gives individuals the ability to perform tasks all on their own. Want to be philanthropic? Lend directly to an entrepreneur using Kiva. Worried about that rash? Look it up on OrganizedWisdom.
But sometimes cutting out the middleman isn’t such a great idea because they actually provide a valuable service, often derived from their expertise. Such is the case with most travel sites. They’ll make it much easier to book flights and hotel rooms, but they won’t help you plan your trip much. That’s where Zicasso, a new site launching Monday, steps in.
Zicasso is like LendingTree (you know, “when banks compete, you win”?) except applied to travel agents and tour operators.
If you want to take a vacation, Zicasso will help you line up the perfect trip without the hassle of planning it yourself. All you have to do is submit a description of where you’re looking to go (Paris? Mexico City?) and what you’re looking to do (visit museums? ride bikes?). Zicasso will then send your description to a network of 100 service providers, four of which will get back to you with proposed itineraries within two days. You can then compare their offerings and decide which one to follow up with. Zicasso can provide this service for free because it takes a slice of the commission from agents.
This method differs from those of other travel guide sites like Responsible Travel and Infohub because here the travel agents do all the work for the traveler. As a result, travelers get more personalized travel packages and a better value from the bidding process. At the same time, travel agents large and small have the opportunity to compete for customers on a global scale.
Zicasso also provides an online community area with forums, travel blogs, and the like. I can see the whole service as becoming very popular with busy professionals who like to travel but don’t have the time to research vacations. Since time is money for them, they should leap at the opportunity to find this help through the web.
I’m trying to think of the downsides of a site like this (that is, if you don’t mind taking packaged trips put together by a travel agent)…. and I can’t think of any. Sounds like it could work for a lot of folks.
I know lots of great and success sites use the web 2.0 . Such as the interracial dating service blackcentury.com where I am always on. I meet lots of like minded friends there.
This sounds like a great time saver for people who don’t care about getting the absolute cheapest trip.
Zicasso,
You guys should probably upgrade your cms before launch. You’re several security updates behind - lots of nasty people out there.
Best of luck.
I’ll check it out next week when they launch. However I’m skeptical since getting bids from 4 travel agents you don’t know or trust may not be all that helpful. How can that obviate the need for research and planning? Not sure it can.
Its been done and failed…….
mjm,
Can you list the failures please?
I was reading an article in Travel and Leisure last week - seems these guys are behing the 8 ball - tripology.com is already out there connecting consumers with complex itineraries to specialized travel agents…. I think I read they had matched up over 12k consumers with agents…. hmmm doesn’t seem like failure to me mjm!
Yeah Lisa. We get lots of comments here from people that read Travel and Leisure magazine (and from females for that matter).
/sarcasm
FYI, TC regulars can always spot astro-turf Lisa, so before you get out all your marketing data that backs up the business case for zicasso, it would be wise to at least admit that you are an employee.
@lisa and Frank - whether she’s astro-turfing or not, it’s a good site to point out; there are some obvious overlaps
Congrats to Zicasso!
This is a funny service and it’s basically going a step (or steps) back in the past! It’s like having humans do your Google Map directions for you in a “personalized” way! They just invented another way to milk travel agents, that’s what this is all about! You can’t get better prices by involving costly humans!
Looking forward to the launch! Can’t wait to use this site/service.
@Nikolay - I’ve never used a travel agent but my impression is that they can actually save you money because they have access to deals (for hotels, tours, etc) that the general public doesn’t have.
@lisa — Regarding Tripology — there are some similarities but also major differences to Zicasso’s approach. Let me explain below.
Some background first: On Tripology, a traveler client fills out a Trip Request form to describe the trip they’d like to take and Tripology matches it to their network of thousands of travel agents, notifying them and selling the Trip Request as a sales lead. The agents can then decide whether they want to purchase this lead. The first three who respond and pay for the lead get the client’s contact info. From there, everything happens offline — travel agents either call or email the client like they normally do, and all transactions happen offline.
Here are some important differences with Zicasso:
* Tripology allows ANY travel agent to join their network (claim to have over 6000 agents) while Zicasso spent thousands of hours over the past two years to carefully screen and invite only quality ones (we have over 100 quality companies) — we find that there is a HUGE difference between a good agent and a mediocre one. In other words, it’s about QUALITY of the travel companies/agents, not QUANTITY. Consumers might not know who is good or reputable and Zicasso has invested a lot of our time to do the homework for them. On the other hand, with Tripology, any three of the 6000 travel agents who purchased the lead first will get back to you with itineraries.
* Privacy issues. Tripology gives out a traveler’s contact info to any three travel agents who purchased it as a sales lead. Zicasso does NOT sell or give out a traveler’s contact info to any third parties, not even to our travel company partners. All itineraries are submitted online within Zicasso, so there is no need to disclose the traveler’s contact info, and we have built in an online messaging system (similar to Facebook’s Inbox approach) for communication between traveler and travel companies. Of course, whenever the traveler is comfortable with giving out their email or phone number to the travel company, that can be done so over the messaging system.
* Tripology appears to focus only on travel agents while Zicasso uses a mix of both tour operators and travel agents – again, it’s who we feel have the best expert knowledge for that destination (tour operators are the companies which actually operate and run the tours, so they are intimately familiar and specialized in their destination).
* Tripology does not offer any community features and, since transactions do not take place on their site, they cannot track and provide a rating system on the travel agents based on ACTUAL purchases, like Zicasso. Zicasso’s ratings and reviews will motivate our hand-picked travel companies to build a positive reputation with travelers and prospective customers.
* Tripology’s only online process is the initial step of filling out the Trip Request form — everything else is an offline experience, unlike Zicasso where itineraries, communications, and transactions all happen online.
I hope that clarifies the key differences.
Brian K.Y. Tan
Founder and CEO
Zicasso
P.S. By the way, we decided to open the site up for some early birds who want to check it out!
@Brian: isn’t there a trademark issue with one of the big boys - Picasso Travel?
This looks like a good time saving idea for some but it doesn’t address the issue of finding a totally custom designed trip for me on one site. Looking at their providers, what you’re likely getting is some pre-packaged type of trip that you can’t change and personalize and that might be ok for you but more likely it won’t. You can already get lists of these types of trips on any of the major online travel agency sites.
What online travel needs to get to the next level is a one-stop shopping tool that allows for customer self-designed trips to be assembled based on individual requirements and then return choices that can be further changed and personalized. That would be true dynamic packaging.
@Joe – Zicasso can be used to get completely customized trips planned just for you or for packaged group tours, depending on what you want. There are actually four main types of travel arrangements our travel companies can offer:
* Independent travel – only need lodging and transportation, no guides needed; this is typically a completely customized itinerary
* Private guided tour – customized tour with a guide, just for you and your party
* Escorted group tour – packaged guided tour in which you join a group of other travelers on a fixed departure date
* Vacation packages – similar to “Independent Travel” above but with fixed trip components (e.g. 5 days / 4 nights with certain flight + hotel + car rental), i.e. not customizable
For me, I personally have traveled using the first three types of arrangement using the travel companies which are Zicasso members.
When I travel at developed countries like Europe and Japan, I tend to do independent travel, with a sprinkling of half-day or full-day guided tours at particularly interesting cities. Example: When I had my honeymoon in Spain, our travel agent helped plan our entire itinerary and booked our hotels, rental car, and flights within Spain (Barcelona to Bilbao). We drove around northern Spain, ultimately getting to Santiago de Compostela where we got an excellent historian guide to give us a private half-day tour of the amazing old churches and architecture there.
On the other hand, when I travel in developing countries, I usually have a private guided tour arranged for me since it’s quite affordable. For example, last December, my wife and I traveled all throughout Laos as well as Cambodia, having a guide, car, and driver just for the two of us….traveling on an itinerary designed just for us by our tour operator. We had total flexibility on the schedule and on whatever we wanted to do or see.
One more example: A year ago, I took both an escorted group tour and a private guided tour in Peru. The first part of the trip was with an excellent small group tour covering the popular destinations of Machu Picchu, Cusco, Sacred Valley, etc. After that finished, I wanted to travel to some of the more remote areas of northern Peru and my tour operator arranged a private tour for me, with an excellent guide, to go see the amazing archaeological ruins in Trujillo and Chiclayo….in some parts, I was the only tourist!
On Zicasso, you describe your needs and travel arrangements you want. Our travel company partners then strive to make it happen for you. Zicasso is really about personalization and getting the help of professionals to make your trip planning hassle-free.
Brian K.Y. Tan
Founder and CEO
Zicasso