Travelzoo Launches Metaverse Division

Travelzoo TZOO, a New York City-based internet company that provides travel offers and experiences for its membership base, is launching a Metaverse division in April.

What Happened: According to the company, the Travelzoo META service will be a paid subscription-based offering that provides the company’s 30 million members with exclusive access to Metaverse travel experiences.

The company did not disclose the subscription fee or the depth of Metaverse travel experiences that have been lined up, although it stated that since January it has "been building a team of Metaverse travel experience scouts in collaboration with a partner."

Travelzoo noted that it has no plans to produce Metaverse destinations and experiences itself, and it will continue to publish exclusive real-world travel and lifestyle deals.

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Why It Happened: "We believe that Metaverse spaces and its future destinations provide completely new and different experiences that consumers want to see," said Holger Bartel, global CEO of Travelzoo. "The Metaverse is disruptive and abundant with lucrative opportunities for innovative companies that are willing to be the first movers."

Indeed, “first movers” might be the key phrase, as the travel industry is still seeking to regain its vibrancy after the seismic disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic and relatively few major hospitality industry entities are plumbing this new realm. And at least one destination – Visit Iceland, the official tourism website for the Scandinavian country – went so far as to poke fun at Meta Platforms’ FB founder Mark Zuckerberg with an advertisement enticing people to experience “enhanced actual reality without silly-looking headsets.”