On-demand coach provider Zeelo has launched a new luxury coach service called ZeeloLux for travel to sports and music events.
Zeelo uses artificial intelligence to detect surges in travel demand that aren’t met by existing transport options. It uses this knowledge to provide direct coach routes, hiring coaches from operators.
For ZeeloLux, the start-up specifies executive coaches with leather seats, tables, wi-fi and toilets onoard, as well as snacks and bubbly served by an onboard host.
ZeeloLux will make its debut on 13-16 March for the Cheltenham Festival. Zeelo plans to roll out ZeeloLux coaches for other major sporting events later in the year, including Ascot and Henley Royal Regatta.
Zeelo says that coach operators working with it can reduce their vehicles’ downtime, while Zeelo shoulders the risk by hiring the coaches. It gives coach operators tools to use the service, including a scheduling system.
Co-founder Barney Williams says: “We are currently working with thousands of coach operators up and down the country to reinvent the way groups travel and provide hundreds of luxury coaches for fans to major events.
“If our partners are successful, then we are successful. We want to help operators grow their business through providing them with access to new customers.”
He adds: “While the Cheltenham races are synonymous with luxury, getting to and from the racecourse can be a cramped and longwinded affair.
“With ZeeloLux we are able to offer passengers two of life’s most important luxuries, time and legroom. No more standing in someone’s armpit on the train or having to drive: We take you right to the racecourse with a drink in hand.”
Zeelo was founded in February 2017 by Mr Williams, Sam Ryan and Dani Ruiz. They sold their previous start-up JumpIn, a taxi booking and sharing app for students, to Addison Lee in 2014 while still at university. Zeelo received £1.2m in seed funding in November last year from a number of investors, including Manchester-based Swans Travel.
