James Holmes: Age 28
Founder of myTripBook.com
James is the founder of myTripBook.com. He graduated in 2001 with a BA in Modern History from St Annes’s College.
Profile of myTripBook.com & future ambitions
myTripBook.com launched in May 2007 and was previously known as Travelhiker.com. It is a travel social networking site where members can post travel diaries, reviews, videos and photos or search those from others. People can also use the site to find a travel companion or to find advice on a particular trip or destination. Members can therefore also benefit from the collective knowledge of the community.
The site is designed to appeal to all ages and types of travellers. All the information on the site is given a location so that it is easy to search based on location from a world map on the homepage. There is also a unique revenue-share system whereby people can put their own Google AdSense code with the travel guides that they write. Presently advertising space is sold to holiday companies which appears alongside the content for each location and visitors to the site will also be able to buy flights and accommodation through third-party travel providers in the future.
The future ambitions for the site are to increase membership to make the site as useful as possible for people that visit or join, by creating a depth of local knowledge as well as creating a user-friendly experience for people to want to share their own travel knowledge.
Problems he’s had and how he’s overcome them
The site underwent a major overhaul in May 2007, complete with new name. This was the result of feedback from existing members on how the site should work and what it should do. Usability studies and asking for feedback from existing members is the way in which the site will continue to develop.
Major successes
Major successes to date have been the launch of myTripBook.com in May 2007, significantly improving on the first version of the site as well as continuing to attract members from all around the world.
Further details
- Visit www.mytripbook.com
