Ask the CEO (10) - Jonathan Shaw, ChooseToTravel.com

Today 'Ask the CEO' features Jonathan Shaw from ChooseToTravel.com located in Malta, Europe.

1. What problem (s) your company is trying to solve?

Today's travellers are looking at an average of 6-7 sites (including destination information, guides, and booking engines) before they book their holidays.  Our mission is to reduce this number by providing destination specific travel websites.

By providing local knowledge (detailed guides, images, what to do's, etc) coupled with product (hotels, car hire, flights, tours etc) our sites aim to provide a one-stop shop for that particular destination.

We currently operate 50 such travel sites all branded under a Choose''.com domain (eg: ChooseItaly.com, ChooseDubai.com, ChooseSouthAfrica.com). We own a large stock of these domains and are currently launching 5 a month.

2. How did you finance your venture?

My IT Director and business partner Chris Knights used to live and work in Sydney and I met him there before moving to New York. In 2004 we both decided to move back to Malta and we joined forces. Malta is a tiny unique island in the middle of the Mediterranean and is a member of the EU. We enjoy a great lifestyle yet one big downfall is the lack of a VC culture in the country. Hence, we financed the start-up from our own savings and also a couple of years without much income! Nonetheless, we are working on a global project and this keeps us glued to our project!

3. In a difficult climate of uncertainty, how do you attract talents to join you adventure?

I think that in difficult times such as these and for small companies the question is not that of attracting talent but more a question of retaining talent! Both myself and my partner have a hands on approach to running the business. I think that the key is to:

1.    Create a fun and yet challenging work environment

2.    To respect your team and have an open communication channel

3.    And finally, to manage by example

4. Could you explain your revenue model

We own 100+ travel destination specific website, of which 50 have been launched. Two third of our traffic lands in our 'Guides' sections; our challenge is to convert these into bookers! We do this by offering primarily a hotel booking engine; however also generate revenue earning commission on other travel services and advertising solutions for local business.

5. Who gives you inspiration when you feel down whilst leading your company?

My greatest inspiration is my internal drive to make this venture a success. Whilst I understand the value of money and what global success can generate;  I’m also equally driven by other factors. The experience of creating something from nothing and the lows and highs of such a business journey does enrich one’s life and creates challenges. When I’m feeling down I think of the various milestones we achieved and the ones we can achieve. Having said this, Chris Knights, my business partner and his focused approach provides the bulk of this inspiration and strength.

And 5 Trivial questions...

a/ Fave hotel experience

Probably the Soho Grand in New York. It’s getting a bit tired nowadays but I stayed there last year and it really completes the Soho/New York experience.

b/ Mac or PC?

I was a PC user, switched to Mac for 4 years when living in New York (had the Soho Apple store round the corner, could not resist) but then switched to PC again 5 years ago in order to be in line with company set-up, platform and network. At the end of the day it's about getting the job done, so I'm fine with both.

c/ Explorer or Firefox?

I’m typically an Explorer user but my IT partner has recently set Firefox as my default browser. Nonetheless, I do find myself browsing in both especially when we launch new functionality on the sites.

d/ MP3 or CD?

I mostly enjoy music as long as it’s background music. I do occasionally blast on my CD’s when driving but most of the time I’m on the phone anyway. Nonetheless, when jogging the MP3 comes in handy.

e/ Twitter or Facebook?

Neither. I value Facebook more than Twitter yet I personally haven’t joined either. Too be honest my biz partner and IT team look after the social networking aspect of the business

Comments

[Gillian Aquilina]

this website is great. i use it often to book my holidays

thanks

[Amber Knights]

Super site.....specialises in hotels with great offers!!

[Lisa Bradshaw]

Makes travelling much easier....great site

[Tonio]

the best xD

[Joseph Agius]

Nothing - absolutely nothing left to be desired! Tops!!

[Maria Agius]

Great site. Very helpful. Genuine service. Thanks

[Les Cassar]

Great interview . Innovative business. Congratulations

[Sarah Grech]

Incredible website....highly reccomended

[Alexander Bonello du Puis]

What a terrfic addition to the travel industry !! Great service, always with a smile.

[Charles Cassano]

This is an excellant site and useful for my overseas customers whom I book through Choosemalta.com a few days before arrival

[Guillaume Thevenot]

I don't know why but it sounds like these last 10 comments aren't that genuine or at least weren't spontenuous.

Never seen a post when I write about company where everybody just say Hey, great interview great company...

[Jonathan Shaw]

Hi Guillaume,

I know some of the people personally and they probably wanted to express support with their comments.

I am posting a comment myself so as to clarify that the comments are being posted by real & genuine people and such comments were not asked for.

I was contemplating if I should comment or not and decided to do so in order to avoid being misjudged should I ignore your observation.

[hotel pinarella]

Thanks for the great information.

[lagos flights]

Can it only for CEO, or like us people has permit to brows this.
hmmmmmmmm

[Kevin]

http://www.choosebritain.com/en/about-britain/

It seems that the project is not complete. Empty pages don't bode well. Yet they have chosen to put up sites full of hotel information acquired by booking.com (not unique).

It is an interesting project and I have over the last 8 years been doing similar things. Yet I have chosen to do it stage by stage.

Take a really good example of a small unique site full of local knowledge. http://www.york-united-kingdom.co.uk This site has been online since 2001. It has been built and grown slowly since that time. This is how I think it should be done.

Not a huge splash of empty pages.