Chengdu, April 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, overseas destination service provider Auslo announced that, in order to better support its overseas business expansion, the platform has officially been renamed iTrip Aiqv (short for Aiqv). At the same time, in addition to its existing destinations in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Southeast Asia, the company is extending its overseas independent travel services to Europe, continuing to scale up its global operations.
Formerly known as Auslo, iTrip Aiqv was founded in Australia in 2010 and established its China headquarters in 2013. It is an O2O travel website that offers online bookings for overseas independent travel attractions and activities. iTrip Aiqv aims to address the dining, accommodation, and entertainment needs at overseas destinations, with its main business focused on selling fragmented travel products such as tickets, boat cruises, diving experiences, and sightseeing flights, as well as hotel+attraction package deals, all of which travelers can freely select and combine. The mobile app officially launched by the website late last year emphasizes “instant confirmation” products and on-the-go order services, earning widespread praise from customers.
In January this year, iTrip Aiqv secured tens of millions of RMB in Series A funding from Gobi Partners, which will be used to enhance currently operated travel destinations and expand into more destinations. As the sole investor, Gobi Partners is a leading venture capital firm in China, whose investment Tuniu.com went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the United States last year. Following the Series A funding, iTrip Aiqv is making a push into the multi-destination overseas independent travel market. In addition to its existing routes in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Southeast Asia, the company is replicating its fragmented product sales model in Europe by launching a new business line -- The European Line.
iTrip Aiqv’s newly launched European Line includes both Europe-themed tours and classic route tours, as well as carefully selected high-quality products such as skip-the-line VIP tickets to the Louvre, all of which have been personally experienced and meticulously chosen. The line offers users a wide range of options for traveling in Europe. Notably, all products on this line have been sincerely recommended by iTrip Aiqv staff who have tried them out themselves — truly curated selections. Among them, its most distinctive European product, the “iTrip Special Private Group Tour,” is set to launch soon. The first batch of private group products will be introduced in the form of themed tours, such as the Jay Chou Dreamy Fairy Tale Wedding Journey, and the Real 007 Role Experience Tour.
To celebrate the successful rebranding, iTrip Aiqv is launching a “site-wide promotional campaign.” During the event, starting at just 62 euros per day, travelers can enjoy “shuttle bus” products that include drivers, accommodations, and guides to explore Europe.
Currently, iTrip Aiqv offers a wide range of products including overseas group tours (semi-independent), local experiences, hotels, self-drive packages, transfer services, Eurail, travel guides and shopping, visas, insurance, phone cards, and portable Wi-Fi. The company expects the number of products available for online booking this year to exceed 10,000, encompassing various individual fragmented products such as tickets, boat cruises, diving, sightseeing flights, bungee jumping, local group tours, and local dining, as well as package deals combining hotels and attraction activities. These cover Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Southeast Asia, and various countries in Europe.
He Jianyu, founder and CEO of iTrip Aiqv, said: “The biggest advantage of iTrip Aiqv is that we directly partner with local attraction and activity suppliers, bypassing local ground operators and wholesalers. This not only allows us to offer cost-effective and high-value travel products to customers, but also enables us to better control product quality and provide more humanized additional services.” With over eight years of experience in overseas tourism, He Jianyu has deep insights into the development and positioning of iTrip Aiqv. He stated that iTrip Aiqv will continue to dig deeper into locally unique experiences at overseas destinations, deliver more on-the-ground services, and ensure that there are vehicles and personnel available locally to provide various ad hoc services at any time, offering maximum convenience for travelers.