By Robert Upe
TWO young Melbourne technology whizzes with a small office and a handful of staff are taking on some of the world's biggest travel guide publishers, including Lonely Planet.
Passionate travellers Chris Gillard and Raef Akehurst are the brains behind a series of 37 new Australian travel apps that started rolling out about two weeks ago. They also plan to develop hundreds more apps for countries around the world.
"We've started in Australia because it is our backyard but we want to achieve blanket coverage around the globe," Mr Akehurst said. "There are a lot of travel apps available [17,000 according to figures quoted recently in London's Daily Telegraph] but we found there are no great ones, so we have set out to make the best."
Their apps have been developed over the past 18 months in a crowded CBD office where there are distractions such as a tabletop soccer game and an electronic Wurlitzer theatre organ.
"They are talking points and ice breakers," Mr Gillard said.
Their suite of apps is called Appy Travels and includes major cities as well as niche destinations such as Byron Bay, Cairns, Alice Springs and the Barossa Valley, which are not serviced by current destination apps.
After the rollout of the Australian series, they will release about 50 for the US that will include the big cities, along with the likes of Yellowstone National Park, Route 66 and Death Valley.
The free apps are cross-platform, suitable for iOS (Apple) and Android. That means they can work on iPads, iPhones and iPods, as well as Android phones.
Mr Akehurst said a 2010 survey showed that about 70 per cent of people worldwide and 78 per cent of people in North America travel with a smartphone that can use apps. "The potential market is massive," he said.
At the core of the new Australian apps is a guide that includes visitor attractions, accommodation and places to eat and drink.
They also include interactive maps with points of interest, a five-day weather forecast, audio phrase book, videos, photos, currency converter and a section for deals which Mr Akehurst and Mr Gillard hope will bring in revenue when tourism operators advertise. The apps can be used offline or online and will include frequent updates and edited feedback from users. "We hope to attract feedback from a community of travellers," Mr Akehurst said. "Our guides on day one in the app store are simply a starting framework that will then evolve through constant feedback from travellers. Lonely Planet apps are literally repurposed paper guide books," he said. "They don't update frequently or take advantage of all the technology. Others such as TripAdvisor are review based and have issues of trust. We will be a hybrid that falls somewhere in the middle of Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor."
Mr Gillard said: "We will make a judgment call on the feedback we allow through and we will make sure it is coherent and well written and in the same tone. If a fake gets through chances are it won't be there for long because of the feedback we expect."
Tourism Australia has welcomed the new apps. Marketing manager Nick Baker said they allow visitors to easily plan their travels and to make informed decisions about destinations.
Mr Gillard and Mr Akehurst are not new to app development. They created Unofficial Footy Apps in 2010 for AFL teams, a project that has spun beyond expectations with the duo now having developed 682 apps for sporting teams around the world.
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