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Dragon's Den Finalist

Vestibule Solutions presenting their Sales and Marketing PMS, Elina to the judges at the Eye-for-travel's Dragon's Den. Elina was selected as one of the finalists

Christopher Lovold, Managing Director of Vestibule Solitions, had the honour of being selected as a finalist at this this year's Travel Distribution Summit Innovation Initiative for our Innovative Property Management Solution.

Christopher Lovold presented Elina to a panel of travel industry experts and a full auditorium at the Business Design Centre in London on Wednesday the 21st of May, 2008. Although, not chosen as the winner, Vestibule Solutions is proud to have been selected to showcase their sales and marketing PMS to the travel industry for the first time. To learn more about the event, read on - want to learn more about us, our products and services, please use the inline links or the navigation pane above.

DAY 1

Presenting at the Eye-for-Travel Dragon's Den, first round

It was with great excitement that Vestibule Solitions headed up by Christopher Lovold presented Elina, the management suite for Hospitality to a panel of expert judges:

  1. Dick Porter, Co-founder & Director, STA Travel
  2. Hugo Burge, Founder, Howzat Media
  3. Jason Katz, Founder, KP Capital
  4. Gerry Samuels, CEO, Travel Capital
  5. John Kent, CEO, youtravel.com

Out of the 20 innovative hopefuls, Vestibule Solutions with Elina was selected as one of four to present Elina to an audience of travel professionals.

DAY 2

Christopher Lovold, Managing Director of Vestibule Solutions presenting Elina at Eye for Travel's Dragons Den.

The second round of the Innovation Iniative was held on the following day on May 21st, 2008. The four companies selected were:

  • Vestibule Solutions
    • Vestibule Solutions develops products and services for the Travel Industry. Elina, our innovative Hospitality Management Suite integrates PMS, booking engine, pricing and promotions, e-Marketing, CRM, and more within one unified system. Elina eliminates expensive interfaces and resource draining IT “fixes”; bringing hotels the Sales and Marketing PMS of the future!
  • PrivateFly
    • Innovation Initiative. PrivateFly is an online private jet booking network. Founded by a former RAF pilot, Adam Twidell, PrivateFly combines market price comparison with an online auction house allowing customers direct access to Europe´s 650 charter companies. . . Before the launch of PrivateFly (Sep 07), the private jet customer could only book directly with an operator or use a traditional broker. PrivateFly brings transparency and is lowering the price of jet travel by:. . Scouring the entire market - access to 650+ operators in Europe & Middle East.
  • Roundtrip Systems
    • With 1 in every 7 agencies forecast to disappear this year and with many others running at a loss, the Travel Industry is in crisis as economic uncertainty bites. Shedding cost and improving customer experience is vital to survival. TravelDesk automates customer email and phone requests from search right through to booking and payment. No browser, no live agent - but a true revolution in travel self-service.
  • Planet

    • Planet is a niche travel company specializing in extreme and adventure sports holidays, one of the fastest growing sectors in the Travel Industry. Planets strengths are its strong brand, loyal customer base, huge expandability and strong internet presence. This already profitable and very busy business is looking for investment in IT, infrastructure and marketing to bring its niche product to the wider national and international market place.

The Criteria

The business were judged on the following criteria:

The criteris used to judge the viability and investment opportunity of the business competiting and the Dragon's Den

  1. Idea/Concept
  2. People in the team
  3. Presentation
  4. Business areness and acument
  5. Customer orientation
  6. Investment potential

The competition was tough and the winner, PrivateFly, were well-prepared, articulate, and a worthy adversary. Congratulations to Adam Twidell and Carol Cork!