Start-Up Backed by Europe’s Largest Publisher of Travel Guides, MairDumont

NEW YORK, NY–(EMWNews – July 29, 2008) – Today tripwolf.co.uk

(http://www.tripwolf.co.uk) is released publicly to the UK market. tripwolf

is a new social travel guide that covers the whole world, focusing mainly

on Europe. tripwolf combines professional editorial content with

user-generated content from globetrotters worldwide.

tripwolf is backed by MairDumont, Europe’s largest publisher of travel

guides including Baedeker, Dumont and Marco Polo. Through collaboration

with tripwolf, MairDumont has taken the unprecedented step of putting all

of its high-quality content — covering more than 200,000 destinations and

points of interest — online for free.

On tripwolf, professional travel content from MairDumont is combined with

travel tips from knowledgeable travelers — “trip gurus.” The site is rich

in content with personal and professional travel photos and videos that

give users first-hand glances at their chosen destinations. tripwolf

aggregates third party content from sites like Wikipedia, Flickr and

YouTube. Before a trip, users can create and print a 10-20 page

personalized travel guide to take along on their travels.

tripwolf also serves as a platform for exchanging and sharing experiences

with other travel enthusiasts and friends from around the world. “70

percent of travelers ask friends and relatives for travel recommendations,”

says Sebastian Heinzel, co-founder and CEO of tripwolf. tripwolf reflects

this by allowing user to easily import their facebook profile as well as

their facebook friends. “Travelers want to get the best out of their trips,

so they ask trustworthy sources,” says Heinzel.

“We aim to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for travelers,” says Sebastian Heinzel. “We

want to be the leading international travel 2.0 guide.”

German publishing house MairDumont sees great strategic value in its

investment in tripwolf. “An intelligent combination of our expert knowledge

with the experiences of thousands of travelers is the future for us,” says

publisher Stephanie Mair-Huydts. “With tripwolf we use all the benefits and

advantages of the internet and web 2.0.”

tripwolf was conceived in 2007 by Sebastian Heinzel and Alexander Trieb,

two globetrotters from Vienna, Austria, with help from internet incubator

i5invest. tripwolf recently was successfully launched in Germany, Austria,

Switzerland and the US.

Upcoming features



  --  iPhone application

  --  Flight and hotel bookings

http://tripwolf.co.uk

http://i5invest.com

http://www.mairdumont.com