Join UP!, an international travel brand founded in Ukraine, is shifting its business model from a traditional tour operator to a vertically integrated comprehensive travel service—Join Up! Travel Universe, the company’s press office told Interfax-Ukraine.
“We are moving to a new stage—creating the brand image of Join Up! Travel Universe, a vertically integrated model that combines all key elements of travel into a single seamless system centered on the customer. Our goal is to move beyond selling individual services and instead manage the entire customer experience: from the inspiration to travel to returning home from the trip,” commented Join Up! co-founder Alina Alba.
The change in the business model also means a change in the approach to the company’s development. While the growth strategy was previously focused primarily on scaling, the focus is now shifting to development “from within”: multi-service capabilities, quality control of the travel experience, and a seamless customer experience where all touchpoints are integrated into a single system (an omnichannel approach) to deliver the necessary service.
The foundation of the vertically integrated model will be: strategic airline partner SkyUp, our own DMCs (destination management companies that serve tourists in vacation destinations), traditional travel agencies (B2B sales), travel shops (offline B2C sales points), and direct online sales via the website. Consumers will be offered package and dynamic tours, hotel bookings, airline tickets, excursions, events, activities, vehicle rentals, and more.
This structure will enable Join Up! to better control quality at every stage of the customer journey and create a cohesive, predictable, and personalized travel experience. The new model also makes it possible to adapt travel solutions more quickly to changes in customer behavior and market conditions, as well as to attract a new audience—people who are accustomed to planning their own trips and organizing the entire travel process.
The new travel planning format will also allow travelers to literally “build” their vacation like a construction set and view all trip details in one place—in the mobile app or web version of the platform.
The updated platform is already available to users, though new services will be added gradually so that customers can receive personalized travel solutions tailored to their needs, budget, and lifestyle. For agents, this transformation opens up new opportunities to expand their product lineup, improve the customer experience, and attract a new audience that values a diverse range of services and seamless interaction.
In addition to transforming its business model, the Join Up!™ brand is updating its visual identity across all official digital platforms.
Over the past 15 years, Join Up! has evolved from a travel agency and local tour operator into an international travel brand. The company is currently represented in Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Moldova. Since its inception, the brand has served more than 8 million tourists across all markets and developed a partner network of nearly 10,000 travel agencies, according to internal data.
As reported, the travel company Join UP! LLC was established in 2013. The ultimate beneficiaries are Yuriy and Oleksandr Alby.
The company’s authorized capital is UAH 72.671 million.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has lifted all restrictions on border crossings for all women without exception, regardless of their positions, Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko announced.
“The government is lifting restrictions on border crossings for all women without exception, regardless of their positions in state authorities, local self-government bodies, state-owned enterprises, and courts,” Sviridenko wrote on her Telegram channel.
As previously reported, in early May, the government lifted restrictions on travel abroad for a specific category of female officials. At that time, it was noted that the changes did not apply to the highest-ranking state officials, key heads of state authorities and their deputies, specifically members of the Cabinet of Ministers, the leadership of ministries and central executive bodies, the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the National Bank, as well as to members of parliament, judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General, and heads of state-owned enterprises and state bodies whose jurisdiction extends throughout the territory of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urges citizens to refrain from traveling to Israel and Iran due to the escalating security situation in the Middle East and the threat of missile attacks.
This was reported by the Consular Service Department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Facebook on Saturday.
Due to the escalating security situation in the Middle East and the threat of missile attacks, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry recommends that Ukrainian citizens refrain from traveling to Israel until the situation stabilizes. It also reminds citizens of the current recommendation to leave Iran, which was announced in early January.
Citizens who are already in countries in the region are advised to remain vigilant, closely follow official reports, and always carry identification documents with them.
Travel planning service Omio found out which European cities are most affordable for tourists in terms of prices for the services, tours, food and drinks they need.
The study took into account the prices of visits to museums, guided tours and cityseeing buses, visiting restaurants, pubs and nightclubs, fast food establishments, the cost of beer, 24-hour transport tickets and the availability of free drinking fountains in the city.
The first places in the ranking of European cities, where all these costs will be lowest, were taken by Granada (Spain), Bruges (Belgium), Venice (Italy). Also in the top ten are Edinburgh (Scotland), Innsbruck (Austria), Cambridge (UK), Seville and Malaga (Spain), Florence (Italy). Most of the high places were taken by the cities of Spain.
As the study shows, museums today are one of the most expensive expenditure items for travelers. For example, entry to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam or the Tower of Pisa will cost more than 20 euros, and in the Sistine Chapel – almost 18. Nevertheless, there are cities that offer to visit many, including popular museums for free.
Topped the rating of such cities Rome, where there are more than 553 attractions with free admission, including the famous Roman Pantheon. Second place went to London, where there are 95 free museums, including the Museum of London, the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum, the National Gallery and others, and 487 free attractions.
Third place went to Paris, where there are significantly fewer free museums, but they are still there. These are, for example, the Museum of Modern Art of Paris, the House of Victor Hugo, the Museum of History of Paris Carnavalet and others. In total there are 27 such institutions in the French capital, and almost 400 other attractions tourists can visit for free. Including the famous Père Lachaise cemetery.
Omio’s research also notes that while accommodation costs in European capitals are usually high, it is possible to save money by choosing a hotel outside historic centers or by not fixating on certain check-in dates.
GoEuro Travel GmbH, operating under the name Omio, formerly known as GoEuro, is a German online travel comparison and booking website based in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 2012 as GoEuro by Naren Schaam.
A group of Ukrainian lawmakers will travel to Seoul next month, Yonhap reports, citing a representative of the South Korean ruling party Power of the People.
“As far as I know, their visit to South Korea will take place around July 4,” a party spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
He noted that the number of participants in the Ukrainian delegation will be identical to the composition of the South Korean delegation that visited Kyiv in June.
According to sources, the Ukrainian delegation is expected to be headed by MP Andriy Nikolaenko.
One of the main topics of discussion will be humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Seoul approved the allocation of additional $30 million in humanitarian aid to Kyiv.
It is specified that these funds will be used to provide medicines and food, but not weapons.
South Korea plans to allocate an additional $20 million, which will increase the total amount of South Korean assistance to Ukraine to $100 million, the agency said.
From May 16, Austria removes all coronavirus-related restrictions for foreign tourists, they will no longer need to present a vaccination certificate, a certificate of illness or a test upon entry, the country’s official tourism portal reports.
The so-called 3-G rule (presence of vaccination, certificate of past illness or negative test) is removed from May 16 for those entering Austria from all countries.
Since April 16, many “covid” restrictions have been lifted in Austria. Thus, a vaccination certificate, masks and tests are not required to enter most public places, restaurants, bars and museums. The requirement to wear masks at all times has also been lifted, but they remain mandatory in hospitals, supermarkets and public transport.
