Eureka project delivers personalised travel website
A two million euro Eureka funded project has harnessed new technology to deliver Karavel, a personalised travel website that is part travel agent, part flight booking system and part destination guide. Visitors to the site are first asked a few simple questions about their destination preference, travel dates, holiday formula and budget. Their responses are then used to create a travel blueprint, which site creators say will help users choose the right resort, sites, and activities for them. As Karavel's Folco Aloisi explains: 'The idea generator searches packages to match many criteria, including landscape preferences, age, and whether the client is travelling with friends or family.' Once a user has browsed the suggested holidays and selected their dream destination, Karavel's user-friendly online ordering systems then turns interest into bookings. Irish Karavel partner Sabre is a leading travel industry technology service provider, and developed the new generation booking system. '[The system] allows Karavel to offer exactly the same access to prices and schedules over the Internet as they would in a shop,' says Sabre's Jenny Rizzolo. Karavel's creators are hoping that the personal touch will go down well with Internet holiday hunters: 'Most travels websites offer similar prices, but we're the only people to give customers personalised content. This will help us to acquire and maintain market share,' said Mr Aloisi. Eureka is a pan-European network that promotes market-oriented industrial research and development.