257: Travel Planning for Consumers

In this episode, we speak with Jennifer Hong of Levantr, who's aim is to help traveller better plan their trips. We discuss the consumer journey and how Levantr fits into the all important planning/dreaming stage while generating revenue for travel providers.

-- About Jen --
Jen is a Go-to-Market and Customer Experience specialist with over 9 years of strategy experience at tech enterprises, most recently at Uber. She has also helped startups launch new products and scale their operations efficiently.

She founded Levantr, which launched in March 2021, to free travelers from spreadsheets, word docs, and long email threads. Levantr is a tool that enables cohesive communication and collaboration throughout planning. Think Pinterest meets Trello for Levantr. But her vision for Levantr goes way beyond the initial tool. She believes that by leveraging the "tool first, community next, then marketplace" strategy, Levantr can offer much more cost-effective opportunities to get exposure for travel providers and allow them to build more genuine relationships with consumers.

She plans on benefiting all players in the travel ecosystem - hotels, tour operators, travel bloggers, etc.- and helping the industry recover faster.

Having attended an American international school with 48 ethnicities at a young age, Jen believes that global mindset and traveling allow us to be less prejudiced and more empathetic. Her long-term mission is to inspire more people to travel farther, explore the unknown, and grow from shared experiences with old & new friends. She's also dedicated to building a global and remote team (even after the pandemic) and has been featured on The Offbeat Life podcast as a digital entrepreneur.

-- About Chris --

Chris is an author, podcaster, and brand & digital tourism expert with over 26 years’ industry experience. Chris speaks at many tourism events worldwide, offering his advice and guidance on how travel, tourism, and destination businesses can gain brand recognition and increase bookings.

Chris has focused his business, the Tourism Marketing Agency, on tour operator marketing with over 90% of his client base coming from outside the UK, working with some of the biggest players in the industry.

Chris is the author of the best-selling marketing book, How to Turn your Online Lookers into Bookers, a 400- page book full of practical marketing advice dedicated to the tours and activities sector.

Chris also produces a video advice series called The Digital Tourism Show which you can watch on his Facebook Group, YouTube channel, or listen via Google or Apple podcasts.