TrekkSoft interview, a software to manage tours and activities

Trekksoft has developed into the growing demand for experiential tourism, and is a multinational company which offers a software to manage tours and in-destination activities, coordinating the booking and payment process.

Twissen interviewed Maria Giulia Biagiotti, Content Marketing responsible for the Italian market in Trekksoft.

Twissen: How was the idea of TrekkSoft born?

Biagiotti: TrekkSoft wasn’t born in a business incubator. It has developed in the heart of tourism and adventure sports, where having a tool for booking management was an urgent need.
During the 90’s, Jon Fauver, our CEO, started his activity in the tourism world as a rafting guide, organising tours in Nepal, India, Latin America and United States. Then he moved to Switzerland and, after some experiences in the tourism sector, Jon started his cooperation with Philippe and Valentin, current CFO/COO and CTO.
To meet the needs of the local tourism, they founded TrekkSoft in 2010 in Interlaken (Switzerland). Jon contributed with his 20 years of experience in the tourism sector, while Valentin and Philippe added their entrepreneurial expertise as board members.

Tw: Can you introduce your team (and your headquarters)?

B: We are proud of the multicultural level and of the cooperation spirit towards achieving goals of our team. At the moment, TrekkSoft can count on 100 employers coming from every part of the world, and we are planning to reach 120 employers by the end of the year. We are happy to affirm that our team is made up by more than 20 nationalities, which is a symbol of lively cultures that brings a unique and fundamental point of view on an international and extended market.
Our headquarter is in Interlaken (Switzerland), where our software for booking management was developed. We also have offices in Barcelona (Spain), Dublin (Ireland) and Munich (Germany).

Tw: Which is the business model of your company?

B: As TrekkSoft is a Saas, software as a service, it has the typical business model of the companies which operate in this sector. Moreover, we added an inbound touch: we strongly believe in the added value given by our team expertise. This is the reason why we periodically organise webinars and events, apart from updating our multilingual blog with the latest news and general advice. In fact, our goal is helping tour operators and who manages in-destination activities, both sport and tourist ones, but also who offers local experiences in order to exploit their potential. We want to ease the digital development in this sector, a fundamental component to stay competitive on the market, thanks to an efficient booking management software, but also to the support of our team of experts in simplify processes.

Tw: Which is the target of your activity?

B: Our target involves tour operators and activity providers, comprehending every company which offers tours, in-destination activities and local experiences. They are companies which need to manage more efficiently the bookings of the proposed activities and of the related equipment, and companies which want to exploit the potential deriving from the digital channels.

Tw: Which are the advantages for your customers?

B: Thanks to TrekkSoft, our users can efficiently manage both online and offline bookings, in every phase of their activity: from the creation of a mobile-friendly website, to the integration of an existing one with the booking management tool, to the control of the scheduled activities and relative bookings, to the communications sent to the customers, to the management of the involved resources (guides and equipment), and finally, to the reporting for the control of the fundamental KPI (Key Performance indicator). Moreover, TrekkSoft allows a complete management of the processes, enabling the resales and the cross-selling of the activities both by agents and their partners, apart from the connection with the biggest marketplaces, OTAs and DMOs.

Tw: On which devices is your platform available?

B: Our platform is available on desktop and mobile app, so it is possible to manage activities even outside the office, on-the-go during an excursion or, for example, when a new tour is starting.

Tw: How do you deal with international customers?

B: At the moment we count customers in more than 130 Countries: our team, which is also international, is focusing mainly on European markets. However, our specific assets allow us to work in English, Spanish, Italian and German, even if we are planning to expand towards further languages.

Tw: From your point of view, which are the most open Countries towards digital innovation? Can you give us some examples?

B: An excellent example is given by Fjord Norway, the Norwegian tourism board. Together we created a strong network of local providers with the opportunity of booking online. It proved how the software can work on a larger scale. Other interesting examples are the Italian case of Travel etc and ItalyonaBudget.

Tw: Do you also work with OTAs? How?

B: At the moment, we are working with several OTAs, so our users are able to meet their customers in the exact place where they are. Among the OTAs that are cooperating with us, there are Viator, Musement, Tourradar, Veltra, Lastminute.com. Our development department is working at new interesting integrations, and soon we will communicate it to our users.

Tw: Which are the payment methods that TrekkSoft integrates?

B: TrekkSoft’s booking management includes the opportunity to process and receive payments via credit cards and a payment gateway owned – at the lowest rates on the market – or of third parts, as Paypal, Stripe and many others. Moreover, with TrekkSoft it is possible to process payments on-the-go, thanks to the Mobile Card Reader device. The software was born to ease the operations also to companies which need to manage and receive payments outside the office.

Tw: Did you receive any investment round?

B: We received 3 investments rounds, raising financings up to more than 5 million dollars.

Twissen