Presenter:
Hailey Brown, Founder and CEO of Vacayit.
Startup:
Vacayit is Australia’s first audio tourism platform, using storytelling to revolutionise travel for blind and low vision tourists.
Transcript
[00:08 – 01:26] Hailey Brown
Tourism marketing is predominantly visual for the 253 million blind and low vision tourists globally. This means that they have to rely on tools and platforms designed for sighted people to choose where to travel. Put simply, the tourism industry is inaccessible. But what if tourism experiences didn’t need to be limited to imagery and instead could be a much more immersive, enriching experience?
So instead of using just this photo of the puffing Billy Steam train, you can listen to this. Feel the magic of the steam train travel from the moment you arrive, as you inhale the smoky scent of steam billowing out of the. Vessel’s chimney and are greeted by the evocative sound of the train’s whistle. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.
Hi, I’m Hailey, the founder of VacayIt. And we have created an audio guide to the world. We’re enabling travellers to make informed and independent decisions about where they want to travel. You’ll be able to pick up your phone wherever and whenever and listen to the stories, sounds and history clips of the world around you.
The release of VacayIt is timely with the rising popularity of audio such as podcasts and audiobooks, which right now is a largely untapped market within the tourism industry.
Our stories are hosted on the VacayIt app, which allows users to navigate according to their desired needs with the use of accessible features like map, text or voice search.
Spread across the country, our stories are created in collaboration with the leading destination marketing organizations on a local, regional state and national level. We are growing rapidly, bringing new stories to life every week, and we’re not planning on stopping anytime soon.
Currently within Australia we generate revenue via two active streams major event providers and destination marketing organizations. We’re generating 600,000 annual recurring revenue via these streams and estimate an attainable market of $3 million within Australia to increase our market opportunity and capitalize on first mover advantage, we will expand our services to New Zealand and Fiji first, followed by the US and UK and will add two new revenue streams on platform booking services and user generated content.
With our product and market adequate resources, increased market size and additional revenue streams, we see an opportunity to capture $20 million of the market within our first three years.
We have built a strategic and dedicated team at Vacayit, hiring experts in the area of accessibility, content curation, partnership management and development. The national and global support we’ve had for Vacayit so far proves that it’s already been a game changer for the tourism industry.
Not only are we changing the lives of our users, but we’re also revolutionising the way that tourism organisations market destinations.
We’re looking for smart investment so that we can hire strategically and build the technology that will enable us to scale rapidly, reach new audiences, and expand into multiple global markets.
Join us in creating an accessible future for the tourism industry now. Not in six months because everyone deserves a holiday.
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