Cardiff and London based tech start-up, Lovetovisit.com, has launched a crowdfunding campaign with investment platform Seedrs, with a goal of raising £400,000.
Looking to further its work in the UK’s domestic tourism industry, Fed Pereira, Georgia Aubrey and Alice Aubrey, founders of Lovetovisit.com, hopes the digital platform will change the way people discover and book things to see and do.
Beginning on the 17 February, the month-long campaign seeks investors large and small to join Lovetovisit.com’s mission to support the variety of attractions, theatres, events, and experiences on offer in the UK, both paid and free. The platform already has 1,600 tourism and culture venues signed up, as well as partnering with London Theatre, Encore, and Tiqets.
VisitBritain’s forecasting for 2022 includes large increases in domestic overnight tourism and leisure day trips.* Increasing interest in ‘things to do’ prompted Google to launch a ‘Things to do Ad Unit’ in September 2021 in response to this demand.
However, the sector suffers from a lack of digitisation with only 8% of attractions having mobile optimised websites , according to VisitBritain. It’s estimated that over half of attractions and experiences have no online booking capacity.
Outlining the plans for the funds raised, Alice Aubrey says: “We aim to invest more in our marketing and spread the word about Lovetovisit.com. We also plan to implement an equality and diversity strategy, ensuring that inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do.”
Georgia Aubrey adds: “Covid-19 has changed visitor behaviour as they become more accustomed to booking online and in advance. Whilst the top-tier attractions and theatres have the resources to invest in their technology, smaller attractions and cultural venues are at a massive disadvantage and visitors are missing out. Lovetovisit.com wants to remedy this issue and provide fair and inclusive opportunities for attractions of every size to showcase themselves and generate visits and bookings.”
