Africa-based travel tech company Tripesa has launched Roamio, a marketplace designed to challenge traditional online travel agencies by focusing on trips travelers want to take rather than pre-packaged inventory.
The platform, which uses AI, is geared to connect travelers with vetted local experts based on personalized plans, rather than standardized tours. Tripesa, which was founded in 2021, describes Roamio as featuring an “anti-OTA” model that addresses long-standing distribution challenges for small- and medium-size tour operators across Africa.
‘Pre-Packaged Experiences’
“Historically, the industry has been focused on creating products and then selling them,” said Prasanna Veeraswamy, CEO and co-founder of Tripesa. “That model favors operators with the biggest marketing budgets and digital saviness, and pushes travelers into pre-packaged experiences that don’t reflect how people want to travel today.”
Roamio is geared to res