Travel Startups: 5 Great Examples and What They’ve Taught Us
The travel industry is an exciting place to be launching a new business, especially when there are so many new ways that technology can help to improve products and service offerings to create innovative solutions for customers. If you’re just starting out in this industry, it can be incredibly useful to look at current start-ups in order to learn some of the best ways to succeed with a new business. Here are five of our favourites at the moment, and some of the top tips for success.
In this article:
5 Innovative Startups in the Travel Industry
Travel is an industry that sees plenty of startups every month. Here are five that have been founded in the past couple of years that are really making moves in their sector.
AltoVita
AltoVita is a travel startup founded in 2018 that describes itself as ‘the future of corporate housing’. It gives users access to a diverse portfolio of different accommodation options in cities worldwide, combining a data-driven approach with human-centric thinking to provide a fantastic platform for business and frequent travellers looking for a high standard of accommodation.
Fora
Fora was only founded in 2021 and markets itself as a new kind of travel agency that is driven by tech but run by passionate travellers. They offer travel advisory services that give guests access to VIP perks from their partners and also run an entrepreneurial scheme where travel enthusiasts can sign up to be part of their advisory team.
Gopass Global
Gopass Global offers travel risk management services based on data and analytics, complimenting corporate travel systems by offering a fast and reliable approach to pre-travel risk analysis The company was initially founded in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has now expanded to a reliable risk management tool for all kinds of travel scenarios.
Mount
Mount describes itself as a company that ‘makes all things rentable’ and consists of a consumer-to-consumer platform that allows travellers to access all kinds of rentable amenities wherever they are. The app was created in 2020 and shows users what they can rent from local people and makes it easy to borrow the things they need whilst they travel, creating a fantastic cohesion between the travel industry and the sharing economy.
NeoKe
NeoKe was founded in 2022 and is an app that is still in the early stages, but promises to give users a space where they can store and organise all of their travel information, making trips much smoother and less stressful. You can also make bookings directly through the app, giving you direct access to room keys or codes so you only have to check in on your device.
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Top Tips for Growing a New MICE or Travel Business
Are you thinking about launching a new travel business, or wondering about the best ways to grow your new company? Here are some top tips based on the success of the brands above.
Target a Niche Audience
Being ambitious when you start a new business is a good thing, but you should be realistic about the target audience you’re going to reach with your product or service. If you want to be successful from the get-go, you should target a very niche audience that has a particular need or pain point that you’re trying to solve. You’ll build stronger relationships with your customers to begin with and can gradually expand your audience as your business grows.
Build Industry Connections
Something that can really help a start-up in the early stages is having connections with others in your industry that you can rely on for advice and guidance as you’re growing. There’s the potential for these connections to develop into partnerships later down the line, but if you’re friends with other business owners then you’ve got access to a lot of learning and experience, as well as a way into making more industry connections as well.
Invest in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is one of the most valuable tools that a new business can use to grow its following and build up a solid customer base in the early stages. Writing content, developing a presence on social media and starting an email newsletter are all relatively cost-effective methods of marketing that can be done by small teams, especially if you take the time to put together a posting schedule and set yourself some clear goals.
Don’t Forget SEO
Whilst marketing a new travel business is a great way to grow awareness and build a customer base, it’s also a good idea to make sure that your website is search engine optimised. This method helps to drive more organic traffic to your website and improve the quality of traffic that arrives there, which will increase your visibility online and help to improve customer conversions. SEO is a great way to facilitate steady, reliable growth, so you should dedicate time and resources to this, as well as digital marketing.
Summary
Starting a new business is always a daunting prospect, but there is a lot of valuable insight to be gained from other businesses that are a couple of months or years ahead of you in your industry. Remember to focus on scalable and sustainable growth, even if your long-term goals are ambitious, and prioritise doing a couple of things very well instead of trying to spread yourself too thinly.
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