It's not altogether surprising to see more experience based travel sites popping up; unlike the 'all-in-one' travel sites, this segment still has a tremendous amount of room for growth.

Enter on the scene, Kijubi.com, the experience marketplace. It took me a moment to realize that the name, as twodotohish as it is, is actually pronounced "Could you be", hence the "Could you be… having fun right now". I hear the collective "Ahh, I get it". 

Anyway, besides the very clever name, the site also offers an interesting approach to handling the experience market.

I had a chance to talk to Kilay Reinheld, the President of Kijubi, and asked him some questions.

SJ: Where did you come up with the idea of an experience marketplace?

KR: My partner, Billy Fried, was running a surf lessons and kayak tour business in Laguna Beach for nearly 7 years. As it was a seasonal business, Billy wanted to expand. People would constantly thank him for their activities in Laguna Beach and then ask "What else is there to do?" After extensive research he found that there is no place on the Internet with a comprehensive listing and booking engine for recreational activities. That's how it all started.

SJ: This is interesting because Kijubi was developed by a tour operator and so the marketing and supplier acquisition strategies are probably much more likely to be adopted by other tour operators.

SJ: What was one (I'm sure there were many) of your greatest challenges in launching Kijubi?

KR: I would say the greatest challenge has been the ongoing development of our website on a shoestring budget. We have been working on this project since early 2008 and have not raised any outside capital. Aside from the cost of the programmers, we are building something new in a highly fragmented industry.

The challenge (and fun part for us) is working with programmers to create something that does not exist, yet helps all the businesses we touch. Vendors get more sales, affiliates generate more revenue, strategic partners (like Rezgo) increase transactions and customers, and we get our piece.

SJ: I would suggest that in this economy that Kilay and Billy's approach of starting the business on a shoestring budget is actually an advantage. Being lean and focusing on what is important in order to generate revenue is critical to success. Having "skin in the game" definitely ensures what gets developed is clean, focused, and revenue driven.

To that end, I am totally biased towards start-ups who invest their own capital into their projects. Having gone through the process myself, I can understand the compromises that come with that path, but the rewards, when they happen, are much sweeter.

SJ: What are you most proud of about the project?

KR: Without a doubt I am most proud of our team's accomplishments. Each and every one has pushed their limits to create and continue creating Kijubi from the ground up. We started with nothing and have built an amazing service that our partners and consumers seem to love. We have not had one supplier drop out since we started the business, and I credit our team for keeping the relationships intact at all times.

SJ: Small tourism businesses are a challenge to work with, more so then I think any other sector. The reasons for this include lifestyle, seasonality, and motivation. Unlike a local retailer who has a physical shop who sells to people who come into their store, a small tour operator has the opportunity to attract customers from around the World.

Although this is a much larger opportunity, it is also a much more challenging proposition. Kijubi's approach of giving those small operators the chance to distribute across a much larger audience without the complications normally associated with the process is an enticing one and is certainly needed in such a fragmented market.

SJ: How does Kijubi.com differ from other activity/experience websites.

KR: There are companies out there trying to have a little bit in every market they can get their hands on. Our goal is to saturate each market before we move on. For our initial launch we focused on California and now have about 500 activities to choose from; more than any of our competitors.

We plan on continuing this method as it has proved to work well for us, our customers and our partners. While our competitors have put the majority of their efforts on B2B relationships, we aim at being the household consumer brand. Another major difference is in our plans to integrate social media and marketing methods.

SJ: Activity providers, as previously mentioned, are a tough group to target. The Kijubi strategy is smart and sustainable. Although their reach is limited at the moment, covering mostly California, there is huge potential in other markets using the same strategy.

SJ: Are you looking for industry partners (distribution, investment, etc.)? If so, what are you looking for?

KR: We are always looking for partners that have something to gain from our booking engine. First, any company offering activities is an obvious fit. Our entire business revolves around marketing and generating sales for small, medium, and large activity providers. It doesn't matter if it's a small mom & pop or a large theme park.

Second, any industry website that offers travel or local information and/or advice is a great fit to join our affiliate program and generate more revenue. That, along with hotels, travel agents, As we continue to aggregate more and more activities on Kijubi, affiliate partners get the products they need to make money.

We pay anywhere between 20% to 40% of our net revenue from each sale.

On the business side of things, we are currently working on a Series A investment to further expand the business.

SJ: That sounds like a good approach to take. Focus on developing the business, prove the model, and then look for investment. The benefit of playing in the tours & activities segment is that there is still a lot of room in the sandbox.

Although Viator can certainly be considered the grand-daddy of the sector, new comers like Isango!, Viamigo, and Kijubi are proving that there is still a lot of room for others to pay and be successful.

Stephen A. Joyce has been working as a travel & tourism technology consultant since 1995. In 2005 Stephen and his company, Sentias Software Corp., began development on Rezgo.com, a next generation Web 2.0 tour and activity booking engine for SME travel suppliers and tour operators. In June of 2007, Rezgo.com was officially released and now boasts a user base of 650+ companies. 

www.tourismtechnology.rezgo.com