AIRTH Encyclopedia of Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Introduction

SeeVoov is a video-based trip planning platform that is the first (and currently only one) of its kind; putting a twist on the traditional planning process, it enables users to employ a visual-based approach when making travel arrangements. Through its integration of social and interactive elements, SeeVoov is revolutionary for the travel planning sector.

Description of the destination or original product

Powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence, SeeVoov is helping tourism companies increase revenues via ancillary bookings and improved user engagement. The company’s white labeled platform enables tourism companies to provide their travelers with a unique experience of the vacation research stage. The machine-learning system presents location-specific videos through image analysis that allows destination information to be logically organized for the convenience of the user. The SeeVoov database, through tagging algorithms, stores and organizes videos that are automatically searched for online by identifying information of relevance such as location and online reviews of particular destinations. To enhance quality and accuracy, the videos are reviewed and approved by an expert in the travel industry, and the information is processed again to increase the accuracy of the system.

The platform coordinates business-to-customer interaction through a user facing end-to-end interface as well as various business-to-business partnerships with airlines, cruise-lines, hotel-chains, and TV broadcast networks, which integrate the platform into various touchpoints with their customers (from the website, through applications, and with booking/check-in, in-flight, in-destination and smart TVs). Customer engagement and loyalty is enhanced through the expansion of partners’ product and service offerings, and user data as well as diversified revenue streams are achieved.

The single travel planning application conveniently offers accommodation options and prices as well as location-specific information all in one place, and it creates a personalized itinerary that is accessible on users’ phones. It also enables bookings from flights and hotels to attraction tickets and car-rental travel insurance, and it will soon offer restaurant reservations also.

Process that led recognition that change was necessary

Travel planning has long been a dreaded reality for those who do not take joy in the process. Tedious itinerary planning, coordination of transportation, consultation with travel companions, and confirmation of reservations are time-consuming events that can overwhelm trip planners. The creators of SeeVoov recognized that for travel planning to become a more enjoyable process, the medium by which people plan their trips must be adjusted to facilitate a more engaging and socially inviting experience. Hence, the concept of making the necessary aspects of travel planning readily accessible on a single platform while facilitating a better overall experience emerged. Addressing the B2B ancillary revenue market was lead by the understanding that ancillary revenue should be generated from the cross-selling of complementary products and services that add value (and not only “extra charges”) to the passenger. Travel companies must embrace the concept of travel retailers rather than transportation/accommodation providers, and if they provide real value to the customer, the opportunity to cross-sell to a loyal customer offers potentially more profit than the core product itself.

SeeVoov’s platform was designed to help travel companies provide their passengers with an added-value experience from the minute they book their flight, through their airport wait, during their flight and in-destination, thus giving passengers not only good value for money, but also great value for their time.

Process that facilitated change and implementation

SeeVoov was founded in 2016. It is based in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital known for its high concentration of start-up businesses. Its patent pending technology that conducts in-video image analysis is based on a Deep Learning system. The algorithms developed by SeeVoov have enabled the company to successfully process relevant information and scale it quickly.

Success/failure story

SeeVoov won the Future Travel Experience Ancillary Startup Competition award at the FTE Ancillary conference in Istanbul, Turkey on June 19, 2019. It is celebrated for its integration with airlines, allowing the app to be used not only during trip planning and at the destination, but also while travelers are en route to their location of choice. It also placed in the top ten for the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s international competition for tourism startups in January 2019 at the FITUR tourism conference in Madrid. The company took home the Startup Innovation Award at ITB China 2019 and was named by Skift as one of the top 25 startups to watch 2019. In January, SeeVoov was selected by Samsung to be integrated into its Smart-TV app offering; this is one of many examples of the company’s successful integration into the mainstream technology industry.