Add your listing for Free!

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 28 May, 2010
In today's business scenario constant change and innovation is a must and for us, owning and managing a web business, this change is more dynamic and embedded in the organisation's culture.

Consumer generated content is key to maintain a healthy level of content which is constantly growing and more important satisfying the millions of online searches done daily

Our new listings facilty is our latest development and is a great platform for local businesses and services to list their offering. We have created over 140 categories in which such listings can be appropriately posted and the list is also constantly growing.

Our thousands of daily users across multiple destination specific websites do not only book hotels and accommodation online but also research for activities, things to do and things to see. After all, this is what travelling is all about! More Info: ChooseMalta.com/advertise

Do you need a holiday?

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 14 May, 2010
At some point in time you have probably come across some sort of article highlighting the benefits of a regular holiday. Other articles are in check-list format and allocate scores according to your answers. Well, I'm of the opinion that if you are ready to stop and read such articles, there is no need to go further and you really need a holiday!

Nonetheless, the idea of planning a summer holiday during the month of May is also deeper than you think. It's been engraved in us throughout our childhood with the eagerness of our school summer recess since day 1. Who does not recall the counting of weeks for school to end for summer? For me, it was a weekly, if not a daily count and a prime topic in my school break!

Not many years ago, the planning of a summer holiday started with the choice of destination. The necessary booking requirements followed suit. Nowadays, low cost airlines, love them or hate them, have in a way revolutionized our holiday planning process and some, if not many, start with the low cost flight schedule and price.
If a destination is available at interesting prices, then the holiday destination choice is easily made! This is not the norm but I'm sure it happens often!

Once a destination is decided upon and flight secure the interesting search and choice of hotel begins. I love booking hotels online and finding a good unique hotel with the required characteristics and location has now become fun and easy due to online innovations. Viewing the hotels' neighbourhood on Google earth and street view is also great, time permitting.

Which brings me to the infamous list of things to do and see...... I tend to shortlist a number of items and relative addressed and then leave it up to mood, weather and last minute decision when on holiday. For me it works as it gives me enough functionality to take advantage of the local area attractions yet giving me flexibility to relax and have no rigid schedule on holiday.

Nonetheless in recent years planning a holiday has become intertwined and runs in parallel to discovering local good restaurants. I'm one of those that envies the food critic that travels the world tasting local cuisine and restaurants.
Whilst travelling, food and eating out is synonymous with the destinations culture and eating well wraps up a great holiday!

So, let's all start planning, we have over 70,000 hotels for you to choose from and for those that discover the ultimate local restaurant, please do email us so we share it on our new restaurant listings!

eCommerce - Taking business a step forward

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 30 September, 2009

On Friday 25 September 2009 I was invited to speak at the above titled forum organised by the Malta Communications Authority. The aim of the forum was to highlight 3 local case studies and also launch e-commerce business guidelines for businesses in the Maltese Islands.

Having guidelines to assist local companies is a good initiative especially since a section on taxation and cross-border VAT implications for products and services for EU or Non-Eu clients was also addressed.

I was asked to speak about my business experience in setting up and launching ChooseMalta.com as our first website and eventually all of the other 'Choose' travel sites that we own and manage.

In sharing my experience I vividly recalled the obsession I had with three main areas:

1. How many people visited the site

2. If google had indexed us

3. Number of online orders

I'm writing this in this blog as anyone out there who launched a website can probably relate to these initial 'obsessions'. Reality is that years down the line, you still monitor the above 3 areas, yet not as frequently, as when you launch a new site! Nonetheless, what changes is that the analysis of these 3 areas becomes deeper and more complex.

 

Getting the basics right!

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 26 January, 2009

It’s easy to create and launch a website. It’s actually easier than many people think it is. Yet, creating the right platform to suit multiple users with varying internet skills is another story. My background is management consultancy and I have limited IT knowledge.  My partner heads the IT team yet they have a consumer centric approach. This in my opinion is key to any online business. The consumer’s web experience is crucial and this is in my opinion achieved by getting the basics right!

Our travel sites are not perfect and we constantly work to innovate and improve. Key elements are:

   1. Timeliness in product offerings
   2. Fast page download times
   3. Advanced search facilities
   4. Concise and relevant information
   5. Secure and no hidden cost element
   6. Easy to use and navigate

The elements listed above are not rocket science yet we all browse the net and encounter sites which break most of the basic rules. More important, the elements listed above are not just an IT wish list. Like traditional ‘brick & mortar’ companies, these key elements are a constant balance or work between inter-company departments. At Inspire we sincerely inspire to meet and deliver these elements so that consumers and suppliers like you have a great web experience with us. Enjoy!

The Double-C

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 3 January, 2009

The first time that the credit crunch (I call it the Double-C) really hit home was in London last November. I was attending the World Travel Market in London with Caroline and the whole mood combined with the slowdown in travel bookings got me thinking. Whilst I believe that the uncertainty element and the extreme media negative exposure does not help this recession will be tough yet not insurmountable. Travel is nowadays a necessity and not a luxury. We all need to escape and get out of our environment and we will still do so, yet with more attention. Some destinations and travel operators will hurt and these are the ones either targeting high yield customers or operators with high costs and exposure. For others it will be an opportunity to embrace this period and become more efficient. For online companies like ours we must now take the opportunity to promote the wide variety of better deals whilst giving better value to the consumer. It’s not easy but it’s not impossible! Within the next 4 months we will all learn how to live with this situation. We cannot control most external factors yet we must learn how to contain them. Basically, learn to live with and around it!

Another move...another office!

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 26 October, 2008

We have again taken over new offices at Msida to house our growing operation. The ChooseToTravel.com portfolio and team is growing at the rate of one new memb er of staff a month across the operation which now manages various travel sites including ChooseItaly.com, ChooseDubai.com and ChooseSouthAfrica.com.

The new 463 square metre office space gives us room to grow the business whilst also providing a more inspiring working environment for our dynamic team. We have 3 open pl an floors with operations and IT having one each. The third floor penthouse is a super comfy, Google style canteen with table soccer, Nintendo Wii, large shower/ wet room and a state of the art kitchen. We spend a large chunk of our life at work and a great e nvironment for a ll is crucial! Hopefully we will not move for a couple of years!

 

Hello Nakita...

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 2 October, 2008

Nakita was born to sell,  sell and sell! When we set-up the company I was the one in charge of sales and I humbly believe that I did well. Yet, over these years, administration and business development and unfortunately the dreaded financials took a lot of my focus and time.  I was on the look-out for the ideal sales person for quite a while.... until Nakita came along! Online marketing and advertising is the future which we are already living in the present! Our websites get huge international traffic and advertising on our sites provides suppliers and companies with excellent value and rate of return. Nakita’s main role is not just to sell but to also ensure that both our suppliers and consumers get what they require. Nakita is focussed and has unlimited energy and drive. Qualities, which are crucial for any successful sales person! Happy selling Nakita!

Coffee or Tea?

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 6 June, 2008

Coffee or Tea? Well actually both! I’m very fussy about both my coffee and tea. Morning is time for espressos and by noon I would easily have drunk around four.  I always heat the espresso cup before as this means that the heat from the coffee is not instantly conducted by the cup. My last coffee for the day is usually a large instant Nescafe with milk. Just to keep the caffeine going. Then for tea I’m even fussier. Just for reference, I’m a builder’s tea kind of guy. Anytime from 2pm till 6pm I’m ready for any cups of tea. I like it without sugar and just the right amount of milk, not too much and not too little. 

Inspire Ltd appoints business development director

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 1 April, 2008

Caroline Borg has been appointed director for business development of Inspire Ltd, operator of the ChooseMalta.com booking portal, "to lead the company into launching its international growth and travel network".

Borg will be responsible for driving forward the company's growth strategy of launching Choose*******.com domain names, including the recently launched www.ChooseItaly.com.

Key to the delivery of these travel sites will be the signing of agreements with various hotel chains and travel suppliers.
Borg has worked in advertising, fashion and the hospitality industry, and - before joining Inspire - was just corporate sales manager at the Hilton Malta.

"I am delighted to welcome Caroline to this key role. We are now a team of 12 and we have a long list of over 60 destination travel sites to launch", says Jonathan Shaw, Inspire managing director.

Employment Marc von Brockdorff

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 1 November, 2007

Marc von Brockdorff has joined our technical department as Technical lead. Marc is 21 years old and has already contributed on the first release as he was employed with a company we outsourced some of our programming to. I look forward to his skills being implemented in our development! Marc is also a drummer with a local band!

Ciao Fabio

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 1 October, 2007

Fabio Franchi has been recently appointed as our sales representative in Milan, Italy. Fabio has vast experience in the travel and tourism sector in Itay and he will be our ground representative in Italy for www.chooseitaly.com. Fabio’s main role will be that of communicating and liasing with hotels in Italy and also develop the company’s product development and alliances in Italy! Buon lavoro Fabio!

Employment Kirsty Dimech

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 11 September, 2007

Today Kirsty Dimech joined our team and she will be in charge of reservations. Kirsty is 22 years old and has excellent customer and communication skills. More importantly, Kirsty has a positive approach which blends in well with our overall team spirit! Welcome aboard!

Move to Larger Offices

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 20 February, 2006

More work, more people and more space required! Larger offices have been found and moved into. It’s not even a year since we moved to the previous office but it resulted in being too small. We now have a better view and around 150 square metres of space. Ironically, its the same yacht marina that we are facing yet from a 4th floor office on the other side of the bay. The team is happy with more space and a better environment. We are now further away from our ‘coffee shop’ yet we have invested in a great coffee machine and also have a kitchen to dine in! 

Destination Specific Websites

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 3 November, 2005

The ChooseToTravel.com group of websites offer destination specific information which compliment the booking engine facilities and hence distinguish themselves from generic and other leading travel sites that sell and promote multiple destinations.

The company also serves corporate clients with cost-effective online advertising and also has access and agreements with other third-party affiliate programmes.

What do we do:
We have fast, secure and easy to use websites. Our core product is hotel room nights, however we also sell tours, car hire and airport transfers online. In addition to the booking element our sites have detailed destination travel guides which assist the user with his/her research.

How do we do it:
We have real-time booking engine that is managed by our reservations office and the suppliers themselves. Availability, confirmations and acknowledgements of receipts are processed instantaneously online.

More than just travel services:
Our websites are known for their wide reach of visitors and hence we have created various other sectors under the ‘Specialised Travel’ category that cater for specific niche markets. These include Healthcare, Property, Sports & Leisure, Business, Conference & Incentive, Weddings. These sectors might vary according to destination.

Ta' Xbiex Marina office

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 20 April, 2005

We just moved to a new office in Ta’Xbiex. It’s just three rooms but it has a great location by the yacht marina. As important is a great coffee shop just 4 doors up. Great coffee and good food to keep the whole team rightly fuelled up for the right work!

 

The birth of ChooseMalta.com

Jonathan Shaw (Co-Founder) | 1 November, 2004

It was mid-January 2004 and I was living & working in New York. At that time I had already been travelling and living overseas for around 4 years. Throughout this time, I obviously met alot of people, both on a work level and socially, and many did not know much about the Maltese Islands. Concurrently, every day I was being facinated by the market penetration of internet companies and their business model.

At that point in time, Malta lacked an excellent travel website and the idea to create one was born. Finding an appropriate domain name was another challenge. I recall spending the majority of a 6 hour evening flight from New York to LA writing down a long list of potential domain names.

ChooseMalta.com was one of them, yet it was only a few days later when I shortlisted a few and checked availability that I managed to register and purchase the domain name. It was one of those cold, heavily snowed in nights and I was working from my loft in Soho. I was satisfied with the domain name.

ChooseMalta.com appealed to the user and had brilliant branding possibilities. I had already drafted a site-map and it was all there on paper. Later on that same evening I kept on browsing the net and ended up registering another batch of Choose domain names. If it could work for Malta, why not for other destinations... and the ChooseToTravel.com network was born!