Travelocity launches personalized road trip planning tool

Travelocity has announced the beta launch of the RoadTrip Wizard, a new tool that streamlines and simplifies the road trip planning process. First to launch the RoadTrip Wizard platform, Travelocity customers can now benefit from a new way to plan every aspect of their road trip all in one place – a task that previously required multiple Web sites. This tool is available through an alliance with LeisureLogix, a new travel and navigation services company.

“Road trips are a part of the American culture,” said Andres Fabris, vice president of business development, Travelocity. “What our customers were missing was one place to plan their road trips based on what they want to see and do. The RoadTrip Wizard will not only fill this gap, it will also allow them to personalize plans based on what they want to get out of their trip.”

A shift away from date and destination-based search, the RoadTrip Wizard’s personalized search process generates filtered results based on user preferences that vary by trip (romantic trip, trip with kids, girls’ getaway trip, etc.) in addition to other options such as preferred vehicle type (car, RV, motorcycle), hotel ratings and desired drive time. Focusing on the “who,” “what,” and “how” of road trip planning, the RoadTrip Wizard’s process mimics a conversation with a travel agent, allowing the user to explore options and ideas while planning.

“We developed the RoadTrip Wizard to serve a much neglected population of leisure road trip travelers. Before our tool, there was no Web site merging the capabilities of planning, booking, mapping and routing for road trips with our degree of personalization,” said Michael Hulley, CEO of LeisureLogix. “Eighty-eight percent of leisure travel is done on the road and the online marketplace was overwhelmingly focused on air travel before the RoadTrip Wizard.”

The RoadTrip Wizard’s intelligent advice engine scours one of the broadest location-based services databases with more than five million points of interest (from wineries to festivals, dry cleaners to national parks), making it easy to get ideas and plan any length of road trip. Merged with sophisticated mapping and routing tools, potential trips are mapped out and then supported with step by step driving directions.

Using the RoadTrip Wizard on Travelocity, travelers can plan road trips and find:

Places to stay: hotels and motels, vacation rentals, marinas, B&Bs and condo rentals.

Places to eat: typical cuisines like American, Asian and Italian to more specific like Tapas, Kosher, Moroccan, Organic, Turkish and Tea Studios.

Places to shop: department stores, charity and thrift, to specialty, repair, antiques and collectibles, fishing supplies, fireplace equipment, party supplies and window treatments to consignment, fine china and glassware, toupees and wigs, pawn shops and plumbing, spas, hair and nail salons.

Places to g cities, towns and villages, arboretums/gardens, beaches, lakes, rivers, swimming pools, open spaces and water parks.

Things to d attractions, culture, museums, entertainment, family fun parks, petting zoos, wildlife refuges, lighthouses, planetariums, ship tours, bars, gaming, historical, worship, sports, tours, wineries, live theaters, grave sites, monster trucks and tractor pulls, boat racing, motorcycle racing, NASCAR/stock cars, off-track and ATV, paintball, river rafting, golfing and shooting ranges, helicopter and airplane tours.

Things you need: medical services including day clinics, hospitals, funeral homes, cemeteries, florists, RV clubs, pet services like boarding and grooming, babysitting, charter planes, helicopters, locksmiths, storage, tourist offices, post offices, laundromats, drycleaners, car washes, movie theaters and repair garages.

Events to attend: festivals and fairs, carnivals, concerts, museum exhibits, farmer’s markets, parades, shows and sporting events.

Online booking of air, car, hotels and attractions is provided through Travelocity Partner Network. Content is provided and edited by LeisureLogix’s research team as well as sources including WCities (events, attractions, city guides), deCarta (mapping platform) and TeleAtlas (geocoded yellow pages information edited for travelers).

Information on beaches and lakes, camping, hiking and climbing, general sightseeing, gambling, theme parks, sporting events, golf and spas along with dining, shopping and relevant events taking place along the route, are part of the differentiating content.

The RoadTrip Wizard complements Travelocity’s existing Local Secrets, Big Finds. This online collection of insider spots across North America features hidden stops along the way, adding a fun twist to the old-fashioned holiday driving vacation. Visit www.travelocity.com/localsecrets to search for roadside attractions along your route.