While sites that facilitate plane ticket purchases and hotel bookings abound, most do not help travelers plan itineraries. Tour companies typically offer these services, and Tripwing will allow customers to compare itineraries offered by companies in one website.
Tripwing has partnered with G Adventures, Intrepid, the Roman Guy, Contiki and Pacific Delight Tours to offer more than 3,000 vacation options, and will continue to expand by connecting with more tour companies.
Tanner said he was inspired to create the company after he planned a trip for himself and friends. He noticed there was a lack of sites available to help plan trip itineraries and saw a profitable opportunity in the market.
Tanner quit his job at GE Capital soon after to focus his attention on the business endeavor. He partnered with Michael Bamberger '09, who he met at a Dartmouth networking event in New York in February. Tanner and Bamberger are now part of a five-person team working to launch the company.
Tanner looks forward to interacting with customers and helping them spend their vacation time wisely.
"I have spent a lot of time building a product itself, but I'm now more excited about helping people plan their vacations," he said. "The next phase of the game is the exciting part."
Building and maintaining the website requires work to ensure that the customer's experience is seamless, Tanner said. He hopes that customers who use Tripwing will become dependent on the site.
While planning vacations for his family and friends has always been a passion, Tanner is not a certified travel agent and had no previous experience designing or coding websites. He was inspired by a mantra from his grandfather, who said, "if you're comfortable in your job, then it's time to change jobs."
Tanner served as student body president and majored in geography, and credits his studies as part of his inspiration to work in the travel industry. He suggested that would-be entrepreneurs get an early start.
"Start it when you're in college because at that point, you're not worried about paying exorbitantly high rents and instead can focus on incubating an idea and bringing it to something that's actually real before you need to start worrying about your own living expenses," he said.
Last Friday, Tanner and Bamberger returned to Dartmouth to solicit feedback from the newly founded entrepreneurship and technology transfer office. Tripwing is one of the first alumni-founded startups to request feedback from the office, new ventures and incubator programs director Jamie Coughlin said.
Tanner and Bamberger pitched to Joaquin Villarreal Tu'08, executive director Trip Davis '90 and Coughlin, and the mentors offered feedback from expert and customer perspectives.
Software engineer Sebastian Bierman-Lytle '15 and Mitosis president Jon Kubert '16 also attended the meeting.
"I think it looks very promising," Bierman-Lytle said. "From the design perspective, I thought that it was very, very, very modern, and it will attract a lot of visitors."
Davis, who has founded two travel technology companies, said vacation planning is not as developed as other areas in the industry.
"There's a lot of noise and a lot of activity in online travel, and it takes something that's very unique with a ton of resources to be successful," he said.
Other travel startups, including Peek and Get Your Guide, have also sought to improve vacationing. The sites offer assistance in vacation planning, including activity packages and itineraries. Peek launched in 2012 and is backed by Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, among others.
