Date: 05-07-2021
THELMA & LOUISE, THE NEXT CHAPTER
Women-only travel network gets website makeover
Online travel community, Thelma & Louise (www.thelmandlouise.com), has been dramatically re-vamped to offer members an even more dynamic platform from which to connect with other women, get friends together, seek travel inspiration and share ideas and experiences.
The female-only website, which launched in 2006, has been given a fresh, new look and an enhanced range of exciting features including Dorling Kindersley (DK) travel guides, a hotel rate checking facility, a handy “trip ideas” feature and a rewards scheme for travel guides that have been written by members.
“In the four years since our launch, we’ve had members “trucking” through the US together, pairing up to follow China’s legendary Silk Road and even driving across the Sahara – all after meeting through Thelma & Louise,” said co-founder Christine Davies.
“We decided it was time to bring Thelma & Louise right up to date by giving the site a complete re-design and re-aligning the business model with the current and emerging trends we see in the online social and travel site world. Making new friends and finding like-minded travel companions is still at the heart of Thelma & Louise but we also wanted to strengthen the appeal to a wider audience. So, whether they are using Thelma & Louise to research a particular destination with the help of DK or member guides, swapping tips or sharing travel ideas with friends, we want all members to feel inspired about life, friendship and travel.”
Thelma & Louise, including all its new features, is completely free and the Your Profile area is the community hub. From here members can access and manage all their community activities and information, share their mood by updating their “Status”, post private messages to friends and keep abreast of what’s going on around the site with the “Thelma & Louise Feed”. There is also a Skype™ button that members can use to easily open up voice or video conversations with other members.
The new-look site also allows women to find friends and search for potential travel buddies more efficiently, using the Member Search feature. Instead of selecting a set of criteria, members can simply type a word into the search box to view details of any member who is relevant to that search term. Typing “adventure”, for example will filter any members who have “adventure” in their profile fields. From there they can filter on various options including holiday preference, location, age range, budget, interests and a whole host of other useful criteria that will help pin point a potential travel buddy. Notably, instead of doing a “big bang” search and then having to go back, this makes the process of finding the perfect travel companion more focussed and dynamic.
Members can also share their travel ideas and plans using the brand new Trip Ideas feature. Whether they are looking for a house swap, a travel buddy to go on an adventure with, or simply an evening out with a group of women in their area, members can browse the Trip Ideas and join any they’d like to be a part of. The Trip Ideas area also provides a quick and easy way to kick-start the conversation and get an idea between friends out there – whether it’s trekking in Peru or getting together for a meal.
An exciting new feature of the site is the introduction of bespoke DK Guides, provided by respected publisher of the Eyewitness Travel series, Dorling Kindersley. The guides, many of which are only available online at Thelma & Louise, span 50 countries and 50 cities.
In addition to this valuable resource, members can search Travel Guides written by fellow members and will be rewarded for inspiring others by uploading their own guides. Women are able to rate travel guides they have found useful or inspirational and prizes will be awarded throughout the year to the authors whose guides have scored highly among the community. Travel Guides can be searched using the same neat tool that’s used for finding members, making it easy to locate the perfect guide. The advantage of encouraging members to post quality travel guides of their own, is that they naturally provide a woman’s perspective, making them highly relevant to the members.
Thelma & Louise has also partnered with a leading hotel price comparison website to provide a hotel search and rate checking service for members. If a member likes the sound of a hotel that has been recommended in a travel guide, she can click on the name to search thousands of sites for the best price. This enables members to be more confident in their hotel search because the property in question has already been endorsed by a trusted, fellow Thelma & Louise member.
An Events section provides a platform for members to view public events that Thelma & Louise or its members have spotted and want to share. There is also a comprehensive FAQs section to help members navigate their way around the community.
In the months that follow the July re-launch, Thelma & Louise will be listening to what members are saying about the new-look site and working to enhance the features even further. Future plans include the introduction of a blog section to allow members to update friends and members during their travels, an area within the Trip Ideas section for third party travel partners to offer organised trips to members and a tool to add videos to the member-generated Travel Guides. Ultimately, Thelma & Louise will evolve in the direction its members take it.
For further information go to www.thelmandlouise.com
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Press Information
Contact: Cat Hamilton
Tel: 44 (0) 20 8767 6864
Email: cat@hamilton-pr.com or press@thelmandlouise.com
About Thelma & Louise
Thelma & Louise is a free, online community where women, friendship and travel come together. With over 8,000 members from around the world, the website connects and provides the tools for like-minded women to talk, plan, meet, inspire and share their travel and life experiences.
Founded in 2006, by friends for over twenty years, Christine Davies, former film director on the BBC Holiday programme and Grace Frankel, retired Chairman of award-winning independent travel agent, IBC Travel, Thelma & Louise is used by women of all ages and all backgrounds.