Why bikes, then tech?
Our founder, Michael Herrmann, had a background in technology before starting his bicycle tour business. He ultimately got frustrated with outdated, inefficient processes that were prevalent throughout the tourism industry. He saw an opportunity to marry his tech background with tourism to help the industry build for the future.
Are travel agents still a thing?
This question comes up all the time, and it is amazing how this myth has become so widespread. B2B sales make up roughly $600 billion of the $3 trillion travel and tourism industry. It is a giant part of the industry, and isn’t going away any time soon. That is why TourConnect is so passionate about making that portion of the industry more efficient, so it will continue to be competitive long-term.
What model do you compare to?
TourConnect is a network and a collection of tools to manage those relationships. We compare our tools to the many collaboration tools that have been extremely successful in recent years; however, where those tools are focused on productivity within one organization, we focus on productivity across multiple organizations in the same industry. Our tools compare to CRM’s, Slack, Asana, Facebook, Xero Apps, and even Tinder (B2B matchmaking)!