News Release 1 August 2015 Travel industry disruption: The startup changing the way we search, compare and book tours online Sydney entrepreneur Murray Decker is taking on the hugely competitive travel industry with a startup that will disrupt the status quo among tour operators. TourAmigo www.touramigo.com is the world’s first non-biased tour comparison website. It aims to revolutionise the tour industry by removing hidden commissions and empowering travellers with the information and facts they need to make informed decisions about their next holiday. “The travel industry is hugely competitive, and while there are sites out there to compare flights, experiences and hotels, there wasn’t one to compare tours around the world, which represented a huge gap in the market,” Decker says. TourAmigo was launched in May this year by former tour guide and travel entrepreneur Murray Decker, who left Australia in 2007 to explore the world, working as a tour guide, travelling to more than 70 countries and meeting thousands of tourist along the way. “The tour industry is booming, particularly for young travellers* who love the idea of a well organised trip that allows them to simply turn up and have fun. While on tour, I kept hearing how difficult it was to find an online resource that could help travellers make well-informed, timely decisions on the best tours available. With my contacts and experience I decided it was time for change, so I created TourAmigo”, Decker said. While the travel industry is a competitive sector, Decker has high hopes for his business, which will satisfy the needs of savvy holiday researchers and bookers that want the information at their fingertips before they board the plane. TourAmigo provides advanced filtering of over 7,500 unique tours spanning more than 150 countries, but is not purely a comparison site. It also features reviews, interactive search maps, destination guides, travel resources and real life travel stories and advice collected from professional tour guides. More than 40 tour operators, including Contiki, Intrepid and TopDeck have signed up to TourAmigo, making them all easily accessible at the click of a button. “We’re challenging the status quo by promising a free, non-biased online platform that empowers travellers to book their next tour. TourAmigo allows travellers the option of finding a tour based on the reputation of the tour operator and suitability of the tour, from an independent perspective”, Decker said. Offering unbiased, free travel and tour advice from real travellers, TourAmigo enables travellers to search, compare and book the perfect tour from over 40 global tour operators.

 

Decker says the team wants to foster a new generation of young travellers and reports that the website has tripled its traffic in three weeks as tourists make the most of the European summer. “While so many in the travel industry run businesses with outdated websites, we’ve invested in our business to ensuring the technology is built into the site to give users the best possible online experience”. “We are the Tinder of the tours industry – we hook up travellers with their perfect tour, without the pressure of a sales pitch.”

ENDS

For further information or to speak with TourAmigo Founder, Murray Decker, please contact: Samantha Dybac e: sjdybac@sammway.com.au p: 0411 251 373 Website http://www.touramigo.com Social @Tour_Amigo @TourAmigo

About TourAmigo TourAmigo was formed by travellers for travellers and officially launched in May 2015. After travelling the world as a tour guide for close to a decade, Founder Murray Decker created TourAmigo out of necessity and demand for travellers. TourAmigo www.touramigo.com is the world’s first non-biased tour comparison website. It aims to revolutionise the tour industry by removing hidden commissions and empowering travellers with the information and facts they need to compare hundreds of unique tours around the world before making an informed decision. TourAmigo works with 40 leading tour operators to provide advanced search engine filtering of over 7,500 tours spanning 150 countries. About Murray Decker Murray Decker is passionate about inspiring, educating and empowering people to live extraordinary lives through travel. During his decade in the travel industry, Murray has travelled to more than 70 countries and lived on 4 continents. He started working as a tour guide in Europe and after years of hearing travellers stories saw an opportunity to build an unbiased, online destination for travellers wanting to search, compare and book their perfect tour, all in the one place. As the Founder of TourAmigo, Murray has skilfully used his network to secure access to data from 40 leading tour operators, along with engaging his colleagues who provide expertise in travel, advice, stories, imagery and reviews. * 2013 World Youth Student and Educational travel Confederation report In 2013 the World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation published its new Horizon III report* which revealed that young travellers now represent 20 per cent of international tourism with the rise in youth spending vastly outstripping that of other international travellers whose spending increased by just 3% over the same period* The report also reveals the way youth travellers use technology to communicate and book their travels is rapidly evolving and having a major impact on the industry which is having to evolve to meet travellers increasing and varied requirements. Full report http://www.eturbonews.com/38093/wyse-travel-confederation-publishes-largest-ever-research-youth-