Rome2Rio explained
Rome2Rio is an Australian online multimodal transport journey planner offering travel services globally.[1] The company is based in Melbourne, Australia, and is owned by the German online travel comparison and booking website Omio.
History
Rome2Rio was founded by Bernhard Tschirren and Michael Cameron, former Microsoft software engineers, who began working on the project in September 2010.[2] [3] The beta version of Rome2Rio was launched on 7 April 2011.[4] [5]
In May 2012, Rod Cuthbert, founder of Viator, became CEO, and the company raised $450,000 in funding.[6] [7] Rome2Rio has received several awards, including the People's Choice Award at Phocuswright 2012,[8] the TRAVELtech Global Collect Website of the Year in 2013,[9] the Data Specialist Award at the WITovation Awards in 2015,[10] and the Best Metasearch Award at the Travolution Awards in 2016.[11]
The company raised a total of $2.8 million in funding, including a $1.2 million grant from Commercialization Australia in 2014.[12] In July 2015, Rome2Rio announced that support for its white-label product would cease in January 2016 due to development resource pressures from rapid growth in its consumer business.[13] Initially, the company offered both white-label products and application programming interface options for partners integrating its multimodal results into websites and mobile apps.[14]
In 2016, the company introduced direct booking options.[15] In April 2017, Rod Cuthbert became Executive Chairman, Michael Cameron became CEO, and Bernie Tschirren was appointed Chief Architect. Kirsteene Phelan became COO.[16] In November 2017, Rome2Rio moved to a new headquarters in Richmond, Melbourne's digital quarter.[17]
In July 2019, Craig Penfold joined the company as Chief Technology Officer. In October 2019, Rome2Rio was acquired by Omio, a Berlin-based travel booking platform.[18] [19] In January 2020, Yeswanth Munnangi became CEO, and Michael Cameron joined the board of directors.
Notes and References
- News: Leo. Jen. January 5, 2014. Rome2Rio.com shows travelers how to get from here to there. Los Angeles Times. subscription. 0458-3035.
- News: TLabs Showcase – Rome2Rio . Kevin . May . Phocuswire . April 7, 2011.
- Web site: Rome2Rio's pitch wins first prize at the Azure BizSpark Camp! . . 6 February 2011.
- News: Rome2Rio Is Google Maps With Airfare, Train And Driving Options . Alexia . Tsotsis . . April 7, 2011.
- News: Rome2Rio launches travel search with planes, trains, and automobiles . . Anthony . Ha . April 7, 2011.
- News: Rome2Rio grabs $450,000 investment round, appoints ex-Viator boss as interim CEO . Kevin . May . Phocuswire . May 29, 2012.
- News: Travel search firm Rome2Rio goes B2B, raises $450k and appoints interim CEO . ROBIN . WAUTERS . . May 29, 2012.
- Web site: Phocuswright Conference : 2012 Travel Innovation Summit Alumni . Northstar Travel Group.
- News: Rome2Rio Beats Strong Field to Win Website of the Year . MARTIN . KELLY . Travel Trends . 19 September 2013 . 19 January 2020 . 26 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200926041430/https://www.traveltrends.biz/rome2rio-beats-strong-field-to-win-website-of-the-year/ . dead .
- News: Tearjerker in Thailand and karaoke-basketball fusion win at WITovation Awards . Danielle . Yong . . October 20, 2015.
- News: Travolution Awards: Winners revealed . . November 30, 2016.
- News: Rome2Rio Gets Another $1.2 million in Govt Funding . MARTIN . KELLY . Travel Trends . 2 July 2014 . 19 January 2020 . 20 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200920103144/https://www.traveltrends.biz/ttn555-rome2rio-gets-another-1-2-million-in-govt-funding/ . dead .
- News: Rome2Rio axes white label to prioritise own consumer brand . Kevin . May . Phocuswire . July 15, 2015.
- News: Multi-Modal Travel Search Engine Rome2Rio Opens Up Free API Access . Martin . Bryant . . February 7, 2013.
- News: Rome2Rio ramps up direct booking options . Martin . Cowen . Phocuswire . May 15, 2017.
- News: As growth continues, new roles at Rome2Rio . Michael . Cameron . Rome2Rio . April 24, 2017.
- News: Rome2Rio graduates to new headquarters in Digital Richmond . Michael . Cameron . Rome2Rio . December 6, 2017.
- News: Omio buys Rome2Rio to build out its global travel aggregator business . Natasha . Lomas . . October 31, 2019.
- News: Omio Buys Rival Rome2Rio in Mashup of Door-to-Door Booking Sites . Dennis . Schaal . . October 31, 2019.
