THE BEST KEPT SECRET AT STENA LINE
When Covid hit in 2020, the team at Sembo did not see it as a catastrophe that would end all travels but rather as an opportunity to redirect the business and to develop a brilliant idea long in the making.
Stena Line’s portfolio company, Sembo, is an international tour operator specialising in vacation rentals, hotels, flights, car rentals and ferry tickets. Originally, they focused on road trips to and around the Mediterranean with suggested stopovers along the way. For the last couple of years however, the team has developed a new platform that will revolutionise the travel industry.
“We’re allowing our customers to become their own travel agents,” reveals Andreas Elmgren, General Manager to Sembo – Stena Line Travel Group. “We have the world’s simplest and greatest trip planning tool. While others are trying to do the same, we’re proud to be the forerunners.”
DIGITALISING THE ENTIRE TRAVEL AGENCY
Patrik Hägne, CTO at Sembo, explains it further. “The traditional travel agents online offer no flexibility. You must know from the start where you want to go, on what date and whether you want to stay one or two weeks. Early on, we digitised our travel offers, now we are digitising the entire travel agency.” Patrik continues: “with Sembo you will be able to book your trips and include everything from ferries, flights, accommodation and activities and if your needs change, so can your trip itinerary. It’s really a one stop shop.”
The new Sembo solution that is about to be launched will also allow you to book combinations of trips and activities that cannot be found elsewhere, ensuring that your adventures are truly one-of-a-kind. It will also keep you updated on the total cost of the entire trip, including activities, at all times for you to effortlessly compare various days and select the most budget-friendly option for your trip. It is an intuitive tool that lets you drag and drop any part of the trip and you can change dates, locations or number of days instantly.
“The new Sembo will not only allow you to find, plan and book the trip. You will also be able to share it with your friends and gain remunerations and bonus points when they book the same trip or some of the activities that you have suggested,” says Andreas. “For small business operators, this will be an opportunity to create their own specialised trip using Sembo and share them with friends and clients just as easily as they would share a playlist on Spotify. We foresee many of them offering their own home parties to present carefully curated tours, just like we have seen Tupperware gatherings in the past.”
Julien Gillet, Irene Vera, Patrik Hägne and Andreas Elmgren
GREATEST DEVELOPERS ON BOARD
The new platform and the investments needed were presented to the Stena Line Board in 2021 and gained great interest. Thanks to the innovative spirit of Stena Line, the Sembo team got a go-ahead and in the last year and a half they have searched for the greatest developers and UX specialists on the market. Some of the best IT talents within the travel industry can be found in Palma de Mallorca, and the team decided to set up an office there as well as one in Wroclaw, Poland, which is also known for its tech industry. Since then, the internal IT organisation at Sembo has grown to over 70 people.
Julien Gillet was one of the first developers on the new platform. “I started out as an intern and found it very exciting to work with something that nobody has done before. At Sembo, you have creative freedom and you are encouraged to share your ideas,” he explains. “During Covid, our team was smaller and I was allowed a great deal of responsibility and that led to personal development for me as well.”
One of Julien’s more recent colleagues, Irene Vera, joined the team last year. Irene and her team put together and offer dream trips to suggest to consumers what they can do when on holiday. “We get many new people onboard in our teams and we have a great team spirit. I also feel that we get better support at Sembo than I have experienced at other companies,” she states. “We’re working closer together and collaborating more and that leads to better solutions and quicker releases,” she continues.
PHENOMENAL INTEREST
More than 20 million searches each day indicate a phenomenal interest in the new site. Early customer feedback also holds promise for the product’s potential, and the management team is preparing to scale the business.
“Our owners provide us with the financial strength required. Still, they allow us to maintain the start-up mentality and agility needed,” concludes Andreas. “Every day we compete with the largest players in the market, but our speed of execution and continuous dialogue with our users will enable us to go global sooner rather than later.”
