Europcar launches new travel app

Europcar has launched a new travel app, Road Tripper, as a Facebook travel application. It is designed to get South Africans to share their favourite travel routes as well as tips and suggestions on the best places to visit.

Fans of the company's Facebook page will be able to submit their own routes of favourite sights, roadside cafes, places to stay or even specific activity routes, such as 'The Coffee Lover's Guide to Cape Town or the 'Girl's Night Out in Sandton' as well as other hidden gems that make road trips in South Africa so memorable. In addition to submitting their own routes, fans can also browse themed routes from other travellers as well as well-known travel bloggers.

As part of the new app, the company has hidden prizes at mystery locations across the application's map. All Facebook fans need to do is unlock one of the mystery locations as part of their route within the application's map.

Journey as important as the destination

"The journey is as important as the destination and with this new application we are hoping to get more South Africans to share their travel experiences with each other and highlight some of the best road tripping routes our beautiful country has to offer. In doing so, more people will be encouraged to travel and re-discover the joy of road tripping," says Europcar chief executive Dawn Nathan-Jones. "Fans can better plan their trips and once the journey has been completed, share their experience with their friends and family. The fans can theme their trips around 4x4 trails, cycling routes or even their favourite restaurants."

The Road Tripper application is free and allows fans to plan or remember a route from within Facebook, setting various stops along the way and adding images to each stop. Images can be taken from existing Facebook albums or even images from Google's Street view. Combining the best of Google Maps, Foursquare and Facebook, the company has created something fun and unique to the traveller interested in the best that South Africa has to offer.

"We have also partnered with well known bloggers including Andrew Brauteseth who writes 'Guy with Camera'. They will be sharing their favourite road trips throughout the year to highlight the best routes South Africa has to offer and sharing the many hidden gems along the way," says Nathan-Jones.

For more, go to the Facebook page.