Why Travelpass Group Decided to Move its Headquarters to Daybreak
At Daybreak, residents are pretty accustomed to a lifestyle built on forward-thinking, sustainability, and healthy living. That’s just who we are. With a park within walking distance of every home, and a focus on outdoor recreation (morning bike ride, anyone?), Daybreak is the place to be for folks who care about prioritizing physical and mental wellness. It will come as no surprise then that Travelpass Group—a tech company making travel more accessible, affordable, and enjoyable for everyone—chose Daybreak to house its headquarters.
We recently caught up with Mike Hurren, Chief Marketing Officer of Travelpass Group to learn more about their decision to have their HQ in Daybreak, as well as their innovative platform that combines cutting-edge technology with a deep understanding of the travel industry to create a seamless and stress-free travel experience for their customers.
Hi Mike! Can you please explain what Travelpass Group does and what sets it apart from the competition?
Travelpass Group is a travel and technology company. We have a multi-supply hotel platform that gathers rates from many different supply sources around the industry and curates those rates to offer up the best availability and prices to our customers. Our customers book travel with us on our websites or over the phone. We invest a lot in building technology to make the online and call center experiences personalized and wonderful for all of our customers. We are in the process of launching our new flagship website, Travelpass.com (currently in open beta), which will showcase all of the great technology we have built and all of the customer experience knowledge we have gained so far.
Could you please share a bit of your story with us? How did you get involved with Travelpass Group?
Personally, I was hired by Ryan McCoy, the co-founder and current CEO of Travelpass Group, almost 15 years ago. Ryan was then living in Daybreak, and I have since moved to Daybreak, as well. Ryan brought me on and helped to teach me more about the online marketing world. Since then, I have taken over the marketing and helped train and onboard the rest of our awesome team. Everyone at the company shares a passion for travel and for how travel can connect the world and change the lives of those who do it.
Tech is known for being highly competitive. What characteristic do you feel has been most important to Travelpass’s success?
Travel is a great space to be for a tech-minded company. The travel industry has been around for so long and there are so many old and outdated ways of doing things, which creates many opportunities for us to make things easier and more convenient for the end users. Our employees are definitely our secret to success. We hire smart people who share our values and want to make the world a better place. Then we work together to apply modern and emerging technology to make the travelers’ experience better.
When it came time to find the company a new home, what first drew you and your team to Daybreak as the location for your HQ?
We had a few members of our executive team that were already living in Daybreak, so we knew it was a great place. It wasn’t too hard for us to convince the rest of the team to make the move. We found a great, modern space at a reasonable price in the Rio Tinto building. It was close enough to Trax, Bangerter Highway, and Mountain View Corridor to make commuting fairly easy for our workforce, even those coming from Utah County.
Something Travelpass Group and Daybreak seem to have in common is that they each provide a ton of offerings all in one place. Can you speak to why you think a centralized hub is so important in this day and age?
Absolutely. We are hoping to make travel planning and booking an easy and fun part of travel, instead of a necessary evil. We are building and launching some AI-powered, collaborative trip planning tools that will help travelers plan their travel and keep their itineraries all in one, easy-to-reference place.
It seems like you and Daybreak have a great relationship that goes beyond the traditional tenant-community bond. Tell us about what it is like to live and work in the same community.
We love being a part of Daybreak and are excited to be a part of its growth. We love all the amenities and events that are going on. Our business is growing, too, and I think our office space is a great selling point for us when we are recruiting top talent to come join our team.
As a tech company, surely you are always looking forward. What do you see in the future for Daybreak that you are most excited about?
More businesses moving to Daybreak is exciting for us. As the urban area is being developed in Daybreak, we look forward to seeing more businesses located here, to help establish Daybreak as a commercial hub. Personally, I’m really looking forward to going to see a baseball game after work!
What’s next for Travelpass Group?
We’re most excited right now with the upcoming launch of Travelpass.com. There are going to be lots of fun advertising and social campaigns—focusing a lot on the Utah market, since that is our own backyard. The tools we are building will make trip planning smarter and easier and we’re really excited to share it with our neighbors in Daybreak, the rest of Utah, and the world!
Are you looking for a place to set up a business (and to call home) that aligns with your work, lifestyle, and happiness goals? Daybreak has got you covered on all fronts. We are a community of people (and inspiring businesses) who believe that good mental and physical health habits should be baked right into life rather than tacked on the end of a to-do list. So, no need to be shy. Come check us out!
