US based website aims to make it easier for consumers globally to find the best travel agents

Jason Griffith President and Co-Founder of www.1Trip3.com, claims that their new web site will be the first of its kind to bring travellers together with the best travel agents across the globe.

He said, “The business is based on the concept that for most people, the idea of finding a great travel professional to take the pain out of planning a big holiday trip is an elusive dream, because they don’t know any specialised agents and they don’t know of a good way to find them, so the search often ends in frustration – also that specialised agent may not actually be in the same country”.

When www.1Trip3.com comes on line Griffith claims that it will be particularly popular among travellers visiting hard-to-book locations such as Asia, Africa, South America and the Indian Ocean as well as with consumers interested in multi-city trips and cruises, the reason being that these types of trips tend to be difficult to plan and purchase without the help of an experienced professional.

www.1Trip3.com co-founder Chinedu Echeruo told The Mole, “While the majority of the world’s leisure and unmanaged business travel is booked through travel professionals, travellers have no effective way of finding a qualified agent.”

“Most people tend to rely on the recommendations of friends or family and typically end up consulting only a single agent to book a relatively expensive international trip.”  As a result, Echeruo spent several months analysing the shopping and buying habits of leisure and business travellers globally, leading to the development of www.1Trip3.com.

He added, “The majority of travellers say that finding a new travel agent is too much of a hassle, but with www.1Trip3.com, travellers will be put in touch with agents all over the globe, and at the same time agents will get low-cost, highly qualified leads on travel, tours, and cruise vacation customers.”

He explained, “ www.1Trip3.com will also empower hundreds of thousands of experienced local travel professionals to cost effectively find new business, because up until now, the internet has marginalized many travel agents,” adding “increasing numbers of consumers book travel directly with suppliers or through major travel websites, but agents still play a crucial role in travel because of their specialized knowledge and convenience they offer.”

“ www.1Trip3.com will connect the traveller with the best travel agents, wherever they may be, to help them with their latest travel needs for each new trip they take and in a time of increasingly internet-driven consumer travel, www.1Trip3.com will greatly multiply the value of the agent world-wide.”

www.1Trip3.com ‘s new website is designed to be simple for both consumers and travel professionals to use, with consumers able to visit www.1Trip3.com to enter their desired destinations, South Africa, for example, plus any additional travel requirements say, a bike tour of the top South African vineyards.  

www.1Trip3.com will then send the request via email to travel professionals who have registered with the website and specialise in that type of trip.

The first three agents that accept the lead online will then can contact the would be traveller directly.

Agents will pay www.1Trip3.com only for leads they wish to pursue, but the site will be free for consumers.

The www.1Trip3.com site is live for agents to register, but is not live for consumers to use yet, but we are advised will be shortly.

Echeruo and Griffith told The Mole they have a secure track record having been responsible for the launch and commercial success of New York City-based www.Hopstop.com, the most popular website in the U.S. for providing users with MapQuest®-style directions for the country’s subway systems.

They both received their MBAs from Harvard and Columbia Business Schools respectively and have always had an entrepreneurial streak.

For information, please contact Jason Griffith at 1Trip3.com – [email protected]

Report by The Mole