Travergence: A matchmaker for tourists and businesses

Finding awesome activities while on vacation may be laborious at times, especially if you’ve not booked an activity-loaded, all-inclusive package tour for your trip. Fortunately, one beta site has plans to change all of that for you.

Travergence is a user-friendly web application, which connects travellers to activities while on holiday. Whether you’re looking for a nature tour near Honolulu or just looking for something cool to do under $50 in San Francisco, Travergence can simplify your search considerably. Just visit the site (it’s still in beta testing), select a destination, choose a category, compare the activities on hand and contact your chosen activity provider directly. Say sayonara to going through tedious listings, comparing travel sites individually, and — if you’re an ultra-organized traveler — creating a spreadsheet for your best options.

The difference between Travergence and other travel activity apps such as TourCorp is that the new platform allows its travel activity providers such as Red Bicycle Tours and Prince of Whales, a whale watching company, to show prices and display extended details, like advice on what to wear and potential safety warnings. This helps filter out results that look uninteresting and irrelevant — like five-day tours when you’re short on time. Travergence also features a price range indicator for each activity offering so you can quickly figure out whether the range falls within your budget. In the future, the app will incorporate scheduling information so you can easily gauge which activities are available within your travel dates.

One downside of using the platform is that most of the current activities are limited to the US and Canada, so hold off on your search search for a romantic getaway in Paris for a little longer as the app’s team expands its reach internationally. Also keep in mind that the activities featured are paid ones: national museums or parks with free entry won’t be included in your search. Stay tuned, though: Travergence’s team will feature free attractions in the near future.

Small businesses will love the opportunity to list on Travergence, since listings are always, and will always be, free. The company also offers a Facebook app, which links to the travel activity provider’s online booking system so you can book without leaving Facebook. Another bonus: hotel chains can thrive on Travergence’s hotel content distribution network, which boasts free exposure on hotel websites, like priceline.com.

The big question is, how does the company plan to earn revenue? Since Travergence is currently in beta, the travel matching service is completely free for both travellers and travel activity providers. When it moves out of beta in a few months, Travergence will charge on a lead generation basis. However, it will still offer three free customer requests per month to the travel activity provider as an incentive for listing.

Suffice to say, if you’re a world traveler, Travergence isn’t necessarily the site for you — yet. But exploring more of the US, Canada and outlying areas, and saving $$ while you’re at it? That’s something we can hop on board with.

Maridav via shutterstock