Type Private Founded 2013 Website www.fishingbooker.com | Industry Travel and Tourism Products Online booking system | |
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FishingBooker is an internet startup built around an online booking site for fishing charters. In 2014, FishingBooker won the Audience Choice award at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. The site has been described as “Airbnb for fishing charters”.
Contents
Function
The startup’s site serves as a portal that deals with a disparate and disconnected group of charter captains and boats. It provides structure in comparing charters which do not have any shared practices or independent ability to book online. It has been described in different venues as an online travel agency of sorts for fishing charters, and as “the world’s largest online community” and marketplace for connecting fishers and charters around the world.
Network
As an online booking travel site for the worldwide Sportfishing industry, FishingBooker had listed boats in 29 countries and 249 cities as of September 2014.
Market
FishingBooker applies a known business model (a marketplace connecting sellers and buyers, like Airbnb or Uber). It is described as attempting to disrupt the large and existing global market for charter fishing. FishingBooker is similar to other services that broker boat rentals, but the site is specialized for finding, comparing and booking fishing charters, including fishing gear and the services of a captain, as well as the boat itself.
Criticism
Following FishingBooker’s Audience Choice Award win at TC Disrupt, some technical writers criticized the company’s site. While supporters focused on the large potential market, critics focused on the site’s limited technical innovation.