In a world paused by the pandemic, travel came to a screeching halt and passports lay collecting dust. Travel-starved millennials locked in their homes turned to their screens, reminiscing memories from old trips and longing to create new ones. As much as the travel hiatus was devastating to the travel industry, it created a window of opportunity for a much-needed overhaul. Ripe for disruption, the travel industry was ready to take the front seat in driving the trend of social commerce. Social travel is harnessing the power of content and the voice of content creators to transform the travel experience of 4.5 billion social media natives.
Conceived in the midst of a mortal pandemic, Alike.io is foraying into the uncharted territory of social travel. As the world’s first creator-first travel commerce platform, Alike.io is revolutionising the travel booking landscape. The travel tech platform is monetising bookable travel itineraries by establishing a new way of discovering, planning and sharing travel experiences. Since nearly 80% of millennials choose their next vacation on social media, Alike.io is offering content creators and travel enthusiasts a one-stop platform to publish and book travel experiences and make a living out of travelling.
One-stop platform: From exploring to earning
It is no secret the number of hours travellers have to spend when researching, planning and booking a trip. The 21st-century traveller first explores destinations on social media, looks for suitable itineraries on travel blogs and then checks the best deals for hotels and flights with a host of service providers and Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). Taking the headache away from travel booking, Alike.io has built a unified platform where travellers can discover destinations, select curated itineraries and book travel experiences recommended by influencers.
What’s more, Alike.io offers creators a monetising avenue to produce travel content in their personal studios. Equipped with user-friendly technologies, content creators can simply drag and drop their travel stories or even reuse content from their social media handles. By leveraging Alike.io’s innovative technologies, creators can publish bookable travel content and make money off of it. The travel tech startup provides travellers with a white-glove experience before and after their travels by offering them a unified avenue for exploring, booking, creating and earning. Instead of daydreaming of vacationing, travel enthusiasts can be just a click away from the vacation of their dreams.
Monetising travel content
On the surface, Alike.io poses to be like a personal space to publish travel stories that inspire travel enthusiasts worldwide to book their own travel experiences. Besides this, the platform rewards the travel content creators for the bookings they influence. It is recognised as the world’s first endeavour where a platform shares part of its revenue with content creators. The travel tech startup is based on a unique business model that enables travel content creators to stow away funds for their next trip while they vacation on the current trip.
Dedicated to reviving the pandemic-afflicted travel industry, Alike.io empowers people as well as boosts the creator economy. Founded on a ‘by the people, for the people’ ideology, the creator-first travel commerce platform is bringing together travellers and travel content creators.
“No platform rewards content creators for the bookings they influence, leaving the content creators to compete for a finite number of brand sponsorship deals,” said Ashish Sidhra, Co-Founder of Alike.io. “With the launch of Alike we have made an ambitious commitment to correct this wrong by making tens of thousands of vetted and bookable travel experiences available to the content creators, and giving them a share of the booked experiences revenue.”
Eyes on the horizon
Alike.io was launched in collaboration with Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism and has also onboarded Dubai as its founding partner city. Eager to introduce social travel to the world, the creator-first travel commerce platform plans to foray into India, Europe and the Middle East in the upcoming months. The platform is also aiming to enhance its presence in the key markets of Far East Asia. In a short span, the startup has partnered with over 12,000 suppliers across 200 destinations and it is well poised to create a mutually-beneficial ecosystem that thrives on the power of partnership and innovation.