Our Company & Story:
Softrip is a US-based company founded in 1997 in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. We are currently working remotely to support our customers across the globe. Softrip was founded by Dani and Tal Pipano of Gate 1 Travel.
Dani Pipano came to the US from Israel and acquired a small tour operator offering tours to Israel for religious purposes. Dani methodically expanded his product line, eventually establishing Gate 1 Travel as one of the largest worldwide tour operators with multiple domestic and international locations. As the business grew, Dani recognized that manual processes would be insufficient to sustain the future growth of his company. His personal business experiences inspired a technology that provides innovative automation, communication, and flexibility to the tour operator industry.
Tal Pipano, Dani’s son, migrated to the US and enrolled in college after serving as an engineer in the Israeli navy. Tal graduated from Drexel university with a degree in Computer Science. He joined Gate 1 Travel and was tasked with building operational systems to run the business more efficiently. Initially, Tal assembled a small team to automate, simplify, and enhance back-office processes. In 4 years, Tal developed an ERP system specific to the travel industry.
As Gate 1 Travel continued to grow rapidly, so did industry interest in its proprietary technology. This encouraged Tal to consider the benefits his technology could provide to other businesses in the tour operator space. In 2002, Tal formed Softrip as an independent company and began offering the system to external businesses. Amnon Gibly, Founder and CEO of Tech7, later partnered with Tal in the development of the Softrip platform.
In October 2021, Softrip was acquired by a group of investors excited about leading Softrip into the next phase of technology and growth. At this time, Betsy Harbison joined the team as CEO.
In our 20+ years of operations, we have acquired a deep understanding of tour operator business requirements and a unique empathy for customer needs. Our consultative approach with customers offers a long-term and meaningful partnership to all parties. Today, over $2 billion in annual reservations are created on the Softrip platform.