Daniel Dobrott

Irvine, CA (USA)
Role(s):
Founder/Owner/Principal

TripKick.com

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Location: Irvine
Industry: Internet
Year Founded: 2007
Number Employees: 1-10 people
Description: Executive Summary: TripKick, Inc. Introduction: Since the beginning of online travel, travelers have demanded and received the information and ability to choose their airline seat and their hotels (i.e. SeatGuru and TripAdvisor). (URL removed) is the next step in the evolution of travel and capitalizes on this growing trend in the online travel industry: consumer empowerment. (URL removed) tells travelers the best rooms to request within their hotel; having profiled over 150,000 hotel rooms in 18 U.S. markets, sorted by distinct features important to discerning business, leisure and high-end luxury travelers. Through its powerful search engine, (URL removed) provides these travelers a variety of specific room options, and organizes these options into simple categories aligning them with personal preferences, guiding prospective guests to make the best hotel/room choice. (URL removed) has come up with an enhanced booking solution that will make our information actionable online. Users will be able to request a specific room or category of rooms, not just a hotel, when they book through TripKick, an option no online booking engine has incorporated. Hotel industry response to TripKick has been significant, and TripKick has already established strategic relationships with numerous hotel chains including Starwood and Ritz-Carlton. Finally, (URL removed) has been lauded by the press/media for adding an entirely new level of transparency in travel: hotel rooms; due to its founders’ skills in profiling hotels and providing a level of detailed hotel information not seen on any other travel site. The Founders: - Bryant Waters has an extensive background in the hotel hospitality industry including a B.S. in Hotel Hospitality Management. Bryant’s hotel operations and marketing expertise along with an eye for detail provide the TripKick audience a level of insider information that has not yet been brought to the web. Bryant’s inside knowledge of the hotel industry also facilitates strategic partnerships with hotels. - Daniel Dobrott, who has a B.S. in Marketing, comes to TripKick with a background in advertising. His strategy in promoting and presenting this detailed hotel information enables TripKick to capture the interests of both casual and aficionado travelers. Business Opportunity: Online travel accounted for more than $128 billion in revenue in 2007, and is expected to exceed $213 billion in 2010. Hotel reservations account for approximately 40% of annual online revenue, making it a profitable sector, but one that has far more reaching potential given that travelers have had no tool for making specific requests when booking online. A recent report states that 90% of American business travelers use the web to book their travel and 83% of all leisure travelers use the Internet once a month to plan a future trip, and combined this segment accounts for a third of all hotel stays. The same report also projects that sites that offer “personalized services, peer-to-peer reviews, and simple navigation” will benefit most from the expected $213 billion in online travel revenues in 2010. In today’s market, discerning business, leisure and high-end luxury travelers require more choices, and details to aide them in their decision making process, something that has proven successful with sites such as (URL removed). Personalized travel choices, quality, and satisfaction are paramount to this lucrative travel segment. Today, when these travelers book online through travel aggregators (i.e. (URL removed) or Expedia) or directly through hotel sites, they are generally unable to learn about specific room information or make specific requests. As a result, these travelers are forced to make bookings directly [offline] with hotels in order to accommodate specific room requests, which is inconvenient. Hotels will typically honor these requests as a means of meeting or exceeding the guest’s expectations and therefore building brand loyalty. However, they often fall short of complete guest satisfaction due to personal preferences being misapplied (i.e. an oversized room is given to a guest who preferred a view). (URL removed) is directly in-line with these consumer needs and has the potential to capture a large percentage of their online bookings (3% alone equals $750 million), because TripKick provides: (i) relevant personalized room information in a clear, concise format with a strong visual appeal and (ii) a simple online reservation tool where specific room requests can made to the hotel directly. Initial proof of Trip Kick’s market traction is that hotel chains such as Starwood and Ritz-Carlton have eagerly partnered with (URL removed) to have all of their hotels “TripKick Profiled”. These hotel chains realize the relevance of personalized room information and recognize that (URL removed) enables them to better tap into an underserved highly-lucrative travel segment. They view (URL removed) as a means to both up-sell room categories thereby increasing revenues, and build loyalty within the discerning travel segment by consistently meeting/exceeding guest expectations. In short, (URL removed) is an efficient online resource to better channel activities that both consumers and hotels already do, and it seeks to become the standard means by which guests can search for and book hotel rooms and hotels can better accommodate need/preferences. Current Product Description: (URL removed) has profiled over 150,000 rooms in 18 U.S. markets. (URL removed) categorizes rooms by preferred views, quiet rooms, corner/oversized rooms, rooms with notable bathrooms, preferred floors, and rooms to avoid. (URL removed) is also a powerful hotel search engine refining searches based on location, hotel personality (i.e. Trendy Boutique, Formal, etc.) and hotel features (i.e. Pet Friendly, Wi-Fi, etc.) making the hotel selection process precise and relevant. (URL removed) is fully Web 2.0 allowing users to showcase candid photos and specific room reviews from recent trips. Future Plans: Please Contact Us.