Sure hope to. Looking forward to it.Company History
TripSmarter.com was born over cold beer and warm pastrami at Midway Deli, a quirky Myrtle Beach sandwich shop. Toni Davis, co-founder and CEO of The Tourist Network, was meeting with a local television producer. The producer brought along a friend of his, Will Barnes, one of the Internet's new whiz-kid businessmen. Toni and Will hit it off; the obviousness of the Web's potential reach combined with The Tourist Network's unique market position became apparent, and within the hour TripSmarter.com had been conceived!
From the moment of conception, TripSmarter.com was designed to fill the spaces left open by the larger players in the online travel business. Naturally it would have the expected features- hotel, car, and airline reservations, bulleted lists of accommodations, restaurants, attractions, etc.- but the unique pull of the site was to be, and is, a combination of two things: local knowledge and a rich multimedia environment.
From
the moment of conception, TripSmarter.com was designed to fill the
spaces left open by the larger players in the online travel
business.
The Tourist Network, founded in 1987 by Jud Colley, Myron Hines, and Toni Davis, was developed as a specialized broadcast television network aimed at vacation and business travelers and their specific needs. The key to their success has been in realizing that visitors want a genuinely friendly, local flavor- they don't want to be treated as necessary nuisances. What visitors need is access to timely, relevant information on the decisions they will make during their stay- where to eat, where to play, how to get around, how to stay safe- and they want the information presented in a friendly, entertaining way.
The same is true for a potential visitor. They have the same informational needs, and the same desire to be entertained while filling them. This is where TripSmarter.com's vast multimedia environment succeeds. Try as we might, it's extremely difficult to communicate through words the feel of a distant place… the way the sunlight angles off the water, the surging excitement of an enthusiastic crowd, the play of light and shadow across a skyline.
Our six streaming television stations convey the look, feel, and sounds of their markets, while presenting more information about them, than can any other medium. A spot describing the perfect meal at a local restaurant will incidentally show the environment of which that restaurant is a part… it will convey more of the reality of the dining experience than is possible any other way.
Streaming television and video-on-demand isn't the end of multimedia on TripSmarter.com. We also have audio files that teach you to speak like a local, huge photo galleries from all six markets, and streaming live cams that bring your destination into your computer.
In the ultimate in online functionality, we provide you, the user, with the best and most well respected online booking agency to accommodate your travel needs. Whether it's hotels (from over 35,000 listings), airlines, car rentals, or golf packages, TripSmarter.com can help you book the lowest prices.
TripSmarter.com isn't content with providing the user with information- we look to our users to provide us with the questions and comments that will help us make the site that much better. Through our lively forums we pull the user into the further development of TripSmarter.com, using their feedback to tailor the site more consistently with those things that real travelers have said would be useful in planning their trips.
Our polls are designed in the same way, to determine which video formats our users prefer, what editorial content they would like to see, and as a method of letting others know which features of each market are most popular.
We're not content with just providing videos and photos from our vast libraries- we encourage our users to submit their own vacation shots and videos. This enables us to present a wider range of images that will give users a more complete understanding of the TripSmarter.com markets. It's also a great way for grandparents to show-off their grandkids- our photo gallery allows users to email any picture in the galleries as a postcard!
In addition to ever-expanding multimedia libraries, online reservations, and interactive areas, TripSmarter.com has compiled extensive listings of restaurants, hotels, shopping outlets, tourist services, attractions, and nightclubs for each market. These are arranged in bulleted, alphabetical format for speed and ease of use… you don't need a cable modem or T-1 to enjoy TripSmarter.com!
An events calendar lists the most promising special events coming up in each market. Our editorial content consists of articles written from an insider's perspective on the various events within each market, on their historical and cultural background, and on the personalities that color each destination.
If you're planning a business trip or family
vacation to the Southeast and don't TripSmarter, you're sure to miss
something! 
