SeaBookings.com focuses on an untapped niche in the young online travel market—maritime tourism. The project rises to address a sub-optimal situation in the maritime touristic sector which involves two agents: the maritime touristic operators (MTOs, the direct clients) and the online users (the final consumers). On one hand, due to the limited size of most MTOs, marketing resources are minimal. Sometimes MTOs do not even have a website or Facebook page, hampering to reach the tourist who searches online for things to do at the holiday destination. On the other hand, tourists only have the possibility to book watersports and boat tours when arriving at the destination since only a small minority of MTOs provides direct online bookings through their website. Some more general tour aggregator websites exist which may include some of the activities of this particular niche, but no project targets the tourists willing to enjoy the ocean specifically.
SeaBookings.com provides an online ...
SeaBookings.com focuses on an untapped niche in the young online travel market—maritime tourism. The project rises to address a sub-optimal situation in the maritime touristic sector which involves two agents: the maritime touristic operators (MTOs, the direct clients) and the online users (the final consumers). On one hand, due to the limited size of most MTOs, marketing resources are minimal. Sometimes MTOs do not even have a website or Facebook page, hampering to reach the tourist who searches online for things to do at the holiday destination. On the other hand, tourists only have the possibility to book watersports and boat tours when arriving at the destination since only a small minority of MTOs provides direct online bookings through their website. Some more general tour aggregator websites exist which may include some of the activities of this particular niche, but no project targets the tourists willing to enjoy the ocean specifically.
SeaBookings.com provides an online marketplace to discover, compare and book the best sea activities (such as boat tours, diving, snorkeling, surf, kayak tours and other water sports) for now in Portugal, but soon around the world.
SeaBookings.com bridges between MTOs and tourists who use the internet to plan their holiday activities. To the MTOs, it provides curated content - detailed descriptions of their tours and activities, online bookings and online visibility. To the tourists, it provides an online marketplace where the best watersports and boat tours around the world can easily be discovered, compared and booked.
MTOs pay high commissions to hotels and other agents to increase sales. These commissions represent the revenues streams; 20% on sales via
SeaBookings.com and a mere 5% if booked via the MTO’s individual portal. The individual portals are powered by
SeaBookings.com to allow the MTO to have online bookings on their own website.
At the moment, SeaBookings already has over 40 partners providing a total of more than 150 activities online, covering the whole Algarve, the Lisbon region, Azores and Madeira Islands and Cabo Verde, aspiring to expand to become a global leader in this niche. 2017 will be a year of big growth and international expansion, targeting the Mediterranean first.
