Lovetovisit.com, the UK’s largest booking website of ‘things to do’, has raised £600k from its founders and £1.5m from angel and corporate investors, including £250,000 from Zip World, the award-winning experience pioneer, to corner the UK domestic travel market.
Further raises will follow as Lovetovisit.com plans to launch in the UAE first half of 2023 and in the US end of 2023, aiming to grow monthly users to 10 million by the end of 2023.
Launched in early 2022, Lovetovisit.com is a revolutionary digital platform removing the friction between discovering and booking days out and ‘things to do’, allowing consumers to browse and book thousands of attractions, experiences, activities, theatres and events without having to leave the platform or pay membership fees. The platform also offers smaller businesses and experiences the ability to digitise ticket sales and has been dubbed as the ‘Uber Eats’ for the UK tourism and leisure industry.
CEO of Lovetovisit.com, Fed Pereira, said:
“We already have the largest bookable inventory of ‘things to do’ in the UK. Now with Zip World’s investment we can continue our growth and maximise opportunity in the £24 billon UK consumer market. Ultimately it will lead to an increase of bookings across the industry, exposing audiences to more ‘things to do’ inspiration than ever before.”
Pereira added:
“It’s fantastic to have support from Zip World given their position and standing in tourism. Both our businesses are ambitious and forward thinking so it’s a great match. It also gives us an incredible wealth of experience and business acumen to tap into at Zip World.”
Founder and President of Zip World, Sean Taylor, said:
“The partnership is a clear statement from Zip World Group about how we see the future of domestic tourism and the importance of tech innovation and strong digital content. Consumers want choice, they want discovery and booking to be simple, and they want the online experience to be fun – that’s exactly what Lovetovisit.com offers.”
Taylor added:
“This a great example of two innovative Welsh companies working together and we’re really excited about its potential. We’ve been investing significantly in Zip World to cement our position as a world-class attraction group and now, through this partnership, we’re investing in the future of the domestic tourism industry.”
About Lovetovisit.com
The unique platform has attracted hundreds of attractions in less than 12 months by solving the two biggest barriers the UK tourist economy faces to help it recover successfully post-pandemic with the UK experiences market revenue valued at £24 billion, growing 15% YOY.
1) Digitisation – the platform does all the hard work and is mobile optimised.
2) Marketing – the platform is seeking to attract 10 million users by this time next year enabling a small boat trip company in Newquay to have the same exposure as the London Eye.
A listing on Lovetovisit.com not only makes it easier than ever before for consumers to book trips and experiences, but also provides a key role in supporting small and medium sized tourism businesses, preserving regional culture and employment.
The partnership follows the accolade of ‘One to Watch’ awarded to co-founding twins Georgia and Alice Aubrey in the John Hays Entrepreneur of the Year category at the Travel Industry Awards in September 2022. Georgia and Alice were also finalists in the 2022 UK AccelerateHER awards, and Georgia was recently listed as Cardiff University Alumni 30 under 30.
The tech company also scooped Cardiff Start Up of the Year at the StartUp Awards National Series in June.
