Cruise control:
Bob Haefliger, MBA ’89, Founder and CEO, CruisePortInsider.com
This is the niche Bob Haefliger is filling with his website, CruisePortInsider.com. The site offers comprehensive cultural, historical, culinary, entertainment, geographic, and excursion information on ports visited by popular U.S. cruises. He has personally visited most ports, and fills in the gaps with information from colleagues and travel writers.
Haefliger first got the idea for the site after taking a cruise from
San Juan to Acapulco. “Although I did some cursory research on
the ports we were going to visit, once I got there, I quickly realized I
didn’t know enough about them,” says Haefliger. He started Cruise-
PortInsider.com shortly afterwards. The site now features ads from
tourism-related services and attractions, and Haefliger is exploring
additional revenue-generating opportunities.
When the site launched in September 2008, the San Francisco
Chronicle noted that CruisePortInsider.com digs much deeper
than even commercial travel guides — whether it’s insight into
local Mexican delicacies or tips on building your own excursions
on the cheap. “We tell our readers what to expect in terms of
commuting times, how to get there, what to bring — and what not
to bring,” says Haefliger.
Crediting his Johnson School experience with valuable exposure
to strategy and marketing, Haefliger also acknowledged valuable
counsel from classmates Stuart Shim, financial consultant at Pacific
Financial Management; Gene Mage, partner and principal at Capital
H Group; and Vafa Michael Mavaddat, executive vice president
at Decision Strategies International, Inc.
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