Top Travel Tech and Tourism Startups Transforming the Industry

BlaBlaCar, a travel tech startup, provides a platform for carpooling that connects drivers and passengers traveling to the same destination. Additionally, travelers can book rides when on the go by using the mobile app. The company launched the BlaBlaCar Daily app in 2018, which allows users to share daily home-to-work journeys. BlaBlaCar's service enables users to share rides and costs, making it an affordable and sustainable alternative to traditional transport methods. The platform has been used to share more than 1.5 million rides in the past year.

Founded by Lisa and Ben Simpson, a husband-and-wife duo, Easol is a travel technology startup. Using the company's platform, travel agencies and tour operators can develop and manage their tours while accepting online bookings and payments. In addition, Easol provides a marketplace where travelers can discover and book tours from a variety of operators. Using Easol's all-in-one platform, businesses can customize every aspect of their experience.

A startup called Transparent is changing the game in the travel industry by providing data analytics and revenue management solutions. With the help of AI and machine learning, the company assists travel companies in optimizing their pricing strategies and boosting revenue. Transparent has access to more than 35 million listings on Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor worldwide. This enables it to provide data insights to vacation rental property managers, hotels, DMOs, and tourism bodies, among others, to help them maximize their revenue.

Fly Now Pay Later is a UK-based travel tech startup that aims to make travel more affordable and accessible. The startup provides a payment solution for flights that allows travelers to pay in installments. By embedding its financial solution into ecommerce checkout platforms, Fly Now Pay Later offers a series of flexible payment methods based on installments. Over the past years, the startup has partnered with several tech brands, including Penguin, Billian, and Worldline, to provide a quick and simple way for customers to pay for their travel expenses.

Limehome has disrupted the traditional concept of hotels by offering fully equipped apartments for short-term stays. The Munich-based startup was founded by Dr. Josef Vollmayr and Lars Stäbe in 2018. It utilizes its proprietary operating platform to automate all conventional hotel processes, including pricing, booking, check-in, cleaning, customer service, and invoicing. Limehome aims to provide a more comfortable and convenient accommodation option for business and leisure travelers by turning commercial spaces into apart-hotels and operating them on their tech platform.

Holidu is a Munich-based travel technology startup founded by Johannes and Michael Siebers in 2014. The company provides software and services for vacation rentals, including a search engine that allows travelers to find the best offers on holiday rentals from numerous platforms, such as Booking.com and Airbnb. Holidu's algorithm finds the most affordable vacation rental deals by comparing prices across these platforms. Visitors can access a catalog of thoroughly reviewed and selected vacation homes through Holidu's platform.

A travel tech startup, Duffel, has developed a flight booking platform that allows travel agencies and tour operators to book flights directly with airlines. Furthermore, Duffel provides APIs that developers can use to integrate flight booking into their applications. With Duffel's powerful API, any travel business can search, book, and sell flights from a network of the world's leading airlines in just a few minutes and clicks.

A London-based startup, Wevat, is revolutionizing tax refunds for travelers. Since its launch in 2016 as the first digital VAT refund provider for international travelers, Wevat has helped refund travelers from 88 countries over €18 million on their shopping. The startup's aim is to make tax refunds easier and more accessible for travelers. It is on a mission to bring unexpected delight and convenience to international travelers shopping in Europe.

Lanes and Planes is a travel tech startup that has introduced an innovative platform for corporate travel management. Its platform enables companies to manage their employees' travel and expenses through a centralized system that is fully digital for all aspects of business travel. Lanes & Planes is the first of its kind to offer a travel and expense management solution that is entirely digital, from booking to billing and beyond. As well as its website, Lanes and Planes offers a mobile app that employees can use to book travel and manage expenses.

In 2016, Vincent Moindrot co-founded Carlili, a car rental startup that offers on-demand car rentals as a flexible and convenient alternative for travelers. Moindrot was inspired to launch the startup due to the car ownership complexity in cities. Carlili's services cater to travelers in France, providing them with a hassle-free and straightforward way to rent a car. The startup offers the added benefit of car delivery and pick-up, enhancing convenience. With its customer-centric approach and commitment to simplifying travel, Carlili has made a name for itself in the car rental industry over the past seven years.

CellPoint Digital is a travel tech startup aiming to boost travel companies' revenue and conversion rates by providing payment solutions. The company offers a range of tools, including mobile wallets and payment gateways, to streamline digital payment transactions. Its main solution is a payment orchestration platform enabling travel companies to easily integrate and optimize new payment options, including traditional cards and alternative payment methods. As a fintech player in payment orchestration, CellPoint Digital is helping to transform the travel industry by providing innovative and efficient payment solutions.

Shackle is a startup that offers a digital platform for tour and activity operators. It allows them to manage bookings, payments, and customer interactions from a single platform. The platform was launched in 2020 to digitize hotel guest experiences. Shackle's technology is integrated into a hotel's existing backend systems and consolidated into its guest-facing app, allowing guests to check in, enter their rooms, order food and beverage services, and make payments through Shackle's app. Shackle also enables hotels to organize data around guest behavior and preferences, helping them build out guest profiles and ICPs.

Travel tech startup, Convious, is revolutionizing the travel industry with its AI and machine learning-based platform. Using customer behavior and market trend analysis, Convious provides personalized pricing and marketing strategies to travel companies. This results in increased revenue and customer satisfaction.

Convious' AI-based system offers a frictionless buying experience, personalized offers, dynamic real-time pricing, and analytics on the guests’ experience. More than 125 companies across 16 countries use Convious to drive visitors directly through their websites, resulting in better conversion rates. In fact, in 2021, Convious recorded an impressive 86% increase in its conversion ratio on average.

In TravelFlan, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and machine learning are incorporated to provide personalized recommendations and assistance for a wide range of travel needs. Through a chat interface, the app simplifies travel planning by assisting travelers with everything from booking flights to recommending restaurants. TravelFlan also provides a variety of travel-related services, including visa applications and travel insurance.

TravelFlan was founded in 2016 by Abel Zhao, formerly of Travelport and Amadeus, and Kenneth Lee, an AI and big data expert. After starting as a B2C business model, TravelFlan evolved into a B2B2C model in 2018. Users can use the concierge chatbot for travel bookings, offering recommendations and experiences.

A travel technology startup, H20 Hospitality provides hotels and resorts with a comprehensive suite of tools designed to enhance guest experiences. There are features such as mobile check-in, keyless entry into the room, and personalized recommendations based on guest preferences. With H20 Hospitality's solutions, hotels can improve customer loyalty, streamline operations, and reduce costs.

A variety of accommodation facilities across South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia have experienced successful digital transformations since H20 Hospitality was founded in 2015. As one of the leading players in Asia's rapidly expanding digital hospitality management industry, H20 Hospitality is a major force in the field.

Livejourney is an innovative travel booking platform that harnesses the power of AI and machine learning to create personalized travel itineraries tailored to each user's preferences. The platform offers a one-stop shop for travelers, allowing them to seamlessly book flights, accommodations, activities, and transportation in one place. Thanks to Livejourney's cutting-edge technology, travelers can enjoy a more customized travel experience while saving time and money. The platform's user-friendly interface and advanced algorithms analyze data to recommend the best travel options based on each user's unique preferences.

Innovative travel tech startups are looking to the skies as they develop the infrastructure for urban air mobility. One of these startups is Skyports, which is revolutionizing the transportation industry by building vertiports - landing and take-off facilities for electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs). But Skyports isn't just stopping at infrastructure. The British company has also established Skyports Drone Services, which provides eVTOL drones for cargo delivery, surveying, and monitoring. Skyports made headlines when it became the first in the UK to use drones for transporting Covid-19 samples and test kits in certain parts of Argyll and Bute.

Berlin-based company GetYourGuide has made significant strides since its inception in 2009, now boasting an impressive array of over 75,000 activities curated by more than 16,000 experience creators. This online platform has become a go-to resource for travelers from over 150 countries, who have collectively booked a staggering 80 million tours, activities, and attraction tickets through the platform. With a dedicated team of over 700 travel and tech experts, GetYourGuide has established its presence on the global stage, maintaining headquarters in Berlin and 17 local offices worldwide, including prominent locations in the UK and USA.

The company's remarkable success has not gone unnoticed by investors, with total funding of over $883 million raised to date. GetYourGuide has secured investments from 35 firms, including industry giants like SoftBank, Spark Capital, Battery, KKR, and Temasek. GetYourGuide continues to expand its global footprint while providing travelers with unparalleled access to enriching and immersive experiences, redefining the way people explore and engage with destinations worldwide.

Civitatis enables travelers to book tours and activities in Spain and Latin America through its platform. The platform offers over 4,500 activities in more than 300 destinations worldwide, including food tours, outdoor adventures, and walking tours. Travelers can also book activities on the go with Civitatis' mobile app. Alberto Gutiérrez, a 35-year-old entrepreneur, founded the company after combining his love for web technology and travel experiences into a highly successful business model.

Travel tech startup Omio enables travelers to search for and book trains, buses, and flights across Europe via its platform for booking. Over the past three years, Omio has invested in its product, inventory, and core ground transportation business. As a result of its efforts, Omio became the first third-party booking platform to sell tickets from Comboios de Portugal, the country's state-owned railway company. Travelers can book transportation on the go using Omio's mobile app and its website. As part of Omio's customer experience enhancements, the company has introduced a self-service desk, which allows customers to modify and cancel bookings independently.

In 2009, Yvan Wibaux and Eric La Bonnardière founded Evaneos, a travel marketplace connecting tourists with local travel agencies. With a mission to create a positive impact through travel, Evaneos enables travelers to tailor their trips and receive personalized recommendations from local experts. The company's platform facilitates direct communication between travelers and over 600 local partners in 160 destinations, promoting responsible travel that respects local cultures and communities.

Since its launch in 2012, ByHours has disrupted the travel industry with its innovative booking platform. By using the platform, travelers can book hotel rooms by the hour. During layovers and between flights, travelers needing a place to rest or freshen up can benefit from this service. In major cities worldwide, ByHours offers a wide selection of hotels, allowing travelers to book accommodations with ease and flexibility. Over one million hotel hours have been sold through the platform, generating a turnover of €20 million for the hotel industry. The startup caters to both leisure and business travelers, offering booking options for three, six, or 12 hours in over 3,000 hotels across 6,000 international locations.

Okarito is a travel tech startup specializing in sustainable travel experiences. It offers a variety of eco-friendly activities, such as voluntourism, eco-tourism, and sustainable accommodations. With its mobile app, Okarito makes booking sustainable travel experiences even more accessible for travelers. Additionally, Okarito provides a centralized platform that enables businesses to manage their travel needs more effectively.

Berlin-based startup Blacklane has been revolutionizing the chauffeur service industry since its inception in 2011. With its cutting-edge technology and seamless booking system, the company provides a high-quality ride experience in over 300 cities worldwide. Blacklane connects travelers with professional chauffeurs via their user-friendly app, making booking quick and hassle-free. With a presence in more than 50 countries, the company offers a range of services, including one-way trips, return journeys, airport transfers, and hourly and daily bookings. In Dubai, Blacklane also offers inter-emirate travel that can be booked with just 60 minutes' notice.

HalalBooking is the world's leading online travel agency for Halal-friendly travel, offering a specialized booking platform for Muslim travelers. The platform provides a comprehensive range of accommodation options that cater to Halal standards, from high-end hotels to budget-friendly apartments. HalalBooking goes beyond just providing accommodations, as it offers a wealth of useful resources and information for Muslim travelers. This includes details on prayer times and nearby Halal restaurants, making it easier for travelers to plan their trips in advance. With its focus on catering to the specific needs of Muslim travelers, HalalBooking has quickly become the go-to platform for Halal-friendly travel experiences.

In 2018, AltoVita, a startup founded by Vivi Cahyadi Himmel and Karolina Saviova, emerged in response to insufficient accommodation options for business and leisure travelers. The founders aimed to offer a more comfortable and convenient alternative for travelers seeking quality assurance in the corporate accommodation sector.

AltoVita provides luxurious apartment rentals for its users, catering to various asset classes. A variety of environmentally friendly and secure search methods are available through the platform for travelers to find properties. With a commitment to sustainability and safety, AltoVita strives to deliver exceptional service to its clientele.

Katanox is a B2B marketplace providing direct distribution by connecting TMCs and Accommodation Providers, all via one single API. This connection will provide accommodation availability, rates, inventory, content, contracting, and, even your payments. Katanox's goal is to disintermediate hospitality distribution and give power back to both TMCs & Accommodation Providers. The company was established in 2019 by a team of four entrepreneurs - Georgios Georgiadis, Paul Beukers, Imre Vogelezang, and Mendel Senf. Katanox's travel accommodation distribution and fintech platform bring together travel sellers and accommodation providers, aiming to introduce the programmatic era for B2B distribution in the hospitality industry.

Gravity Co-Living, a startup established in 2017 by Riccardo Tessaro and Susanna Rock, offers co-living spaces to travelers seeking an affordable and community-focused accommodation option. The founders envisioned a seamless and borderless living experience for the rental generation globally and, thus, established the startup to address this need. Gravity Co-Living collaborates with strategic real estate partners in major business and tech hubs worldwide, such as Paris, Barcelona, and Milan, to create a network of community-led residential spaces.

Secret Escapes, the British members-only travel company, is taking the luxury travel market by storm with its online platform and mobile app. With a focus on luxury hotels, resorts, and cruises, Secret Escapes offers its members heavily discounted rates on exclusive travel experiences. The startup has expanded its reach beyond the UK and now operates in countries such as the US, Spain, Italy, and Germany. With its mobile app, travelers can book these luxury experiences on the go, making indulging in a lavish vacation easier. Secret Escapes is quickly becoming a go-to platform for those seeking a taste of the high life at a fraction of the cost.

The Ulysses Group team, who are deeply passionate about the French Riviera, chose to establish themselves in the region to provide their services. Ulysse is a startup in the travel technology industry that provides a platform for booking yacht charters. Through their platform, travelers can choose from a variety of yacht charters, such as sailing yachts, motor yachts, and catamarans. Additionally, Ulysse offers a mobile application allowing users to book yacht charters.

Roadsurfer is a startup that specializes in renting campervans and motorhomes to provide travelers with a flexible and affordable travel experience. Its headquarters are in Europe, and it has 52 rental stations in 12 countries, making it an expert in the rental of campervans. Roadsurfer aims to provide its customers with a unique and adventurous way of traveling.

Paris-based MisterFly is an online travel agency that offers affordable and personalized travel options. The startup has been gaining momentum since it was named one of Skift's 20 young venture-backed companies to watch in 2018. MisterFly Group, which includes sub-brands such as Mtrip, MF PRO, and Hotel Pour Tous, last year announced that it would be joining the Digitrips umbrella while retaining its unique identity. The startup was founded in 2015 and has quickly become a popular choice for travelers looking to book flights, hotels, and vacation packages.

A travel technology startup emphasizing digitizing multi-day tour packages and offering customized travel packages, Exoticca offers personalized travel packages to exotic locations worldwide. The company's curated itineraries combine flights, accommodations, and activities to provide travelers with a unique and customized experience. Furthermore, Exoticca offers a price match guarantee, ensuring travelers receive the best deals. With the help of disintermediation and automation, the company provides a seamless purchasing experience while ensuring price guarantees. Additionally, the platform offers customer support in the destination by monitoring travelers' experiences in real-time.

Le Collectionist, a luxury vacation rental platform, has been making waves in the travel tech industry since its inception in 2014. Offering a wide range of high-end vacation rentals, including villas, chalets, and apartments, Le Collectionist has built a reputation for providing holidaymakers with unforgettable experiences in some of Europe's most sought-after beach destinations, such as Ibiza, Italy, and southern France. Alongside its rental offerings, the platform also provides a concierge service to assist travelers in booking activities and experiences during their stay, ensuring they have moments to truly cherish.

In collaboration with local communities and organizations, Origin offers sustainable and eco-friendly travel experiences. Experiences such as cultural immersion programs and wildlife conservation tours are designed to minimize environmental impact while providing social and economic benefits to local communities. The company's app is powered by machine learning and curated by human travel experts, making it a membership travel company.

Eli Bressert and Tamar van de Paal founded the company in 2019. Bressert is an experienced data scientist who has worked with companies such as Apple, Convoy, and Netflix, while van de Paal has led teams and helped grow companies such as Google, Spotzer Media Group, and Nextdoor, with a focus on technology, marketing, and media.

Route Reports is a tourism startup that was established in 2017. It utilizes data and analytics to provide travelers with up-to-date information on popular tourist destinations, ranging from weather conditions to crowd levels. By doing so, the platform enables travelers to plan their trips more efficiently and avoid common tourist traps. Route Reports also offers suggestions for unconventional destinations and activities to help travelers have a more unique and authentic travel experience. In addition, the company's platform collects data to create a digital twin of transport infrastructure, which is combined with other datasets to make predictions. This helps users increase operational efficiency and identify cost-saving opportunities.

A hospitality management startup called Hotelmize is utilizing AI and machine learning to help hotels optimize their revenue and occupancy rates. By analyzing market trends and customer behavior, Hotelmize can provide personalized pricing and marketing strategies, resulting in higher profits and greater customer satisfaction. The platform also offers valuable insights and recommendations to hotel managers, including when to offer discounts and promotions on certain rooms. Hotelmize, founded in 2016 and based in Israel, partners with online travel agencies, tour operators, and bed banks to maximize hotel booking profits and create new travel products. Its proprietary predictive algorithm and room mapping technology allows it to closely monitor changes in hotel rates and optimize its partners' reservations for maximum profits.

Founded in 2018, Amenitiz is a travel technology startup that manages vacation rental properties. It provides vacation rental owners with a centralized system for managing their properties, accepting bookings, and processing payments. Amenitiz also offers a website builder for vacation rental owners to help them establish an online presence. With Amenitiz's property management system, B&Bs and independent hoteliers can automate tasks from communication to invoicing, increasing direct bookings and reducing dependence on online travel agencies. As a result of its expansion, the company now manages over 4000 properties in 37 countries.

Journee is a hospitality management platform providing hotels and resorts with various tools to enhance their guests' experience. These tools include mobile check-in, keyless room entry, and personalized recommendations based on guest preferences. By leveraging Journee's solutions, hotels can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty while reducing operational costs. Three friends and former colleagues at Depop, Ed Tribe, Megha Chaturvedi, and James Gillard, founded Journee in 2019 with a shared passion for travel. Their vision is to simplify the process of discovering new places and cultures for curious travelers without overwhelming them with research on where to go and what to book.

Bespoke is a dynamic hospitality management startup that helps hotels and resorts craft exceptional, tailored guest experiences by offering a variety of innovative tools and services. With Bespoke's personalized recommendations, curated local guides, and custom room amenities, hotels can distinguish themselves from the competition and cultivate a devoted customer base. Moreover, Bespoke's unique marketing strategies and in-depth data analytics provide hotels with invaluable insights, allowing them to optimize their return on investment and drive sales. By leveraging Bespoke's cutting-edge solutions, hotels can elevate the guest experience to new heights and, ultimately, stand out in a crowded hospitality marketplace.

Mews is a leading platform in the hospitality industry, serving over 3,500 properties in 80 countries. It was founded by Richard Valtr, with a focus on simplifying and automating all hotel operations, from booking to check-out and from front desk to revenue management, for both hoteliers and guests. The company provides the Mews Hospitality Cloud, a comprehensive solution enabling modern hoteliers to streamline operations, enhance the guest experience, and boost profitability. With customers such as Accor, Nordic Choice Hotels, and Generator-Freehand, Mews is a trusted partner for the hospitality industry's biggest players.

The company has been recognized with numerous awards, including the World Travel Tech Awards' World's Best Independent Hotel PMS Provider in 2022 and Best Place to Work in Hotel Tech in 2021 and 2022 from Hotel Tech Report. Mews has offices in Europe, the United States, and Australia.

SiteMinder is a leading open hotel commerce platform that enables hotels and accommodation providers worldwide to enhance their business operations. SiteMinder's innovative online platform allows hotels and accommodation providers to efficiently manage and streamline the distribution of their rooms across various channels, take reservations from guests, and communicate with them.

From small bed and breakfasts to large hotel chains, the company offers a full range of products and solutions. By leveraging SiteMinder's innovative solutions, hotels can increase their visibility, manage their bookings more effectively, and enhance the guest experience.

OTA Sync is a revolutionary hotel and property management system with an integrated channel manager and booking engine system. With its modern, cloud-based platform, hotels, and vacation rental businesses can streamline their operations and automate many tasks, freeing up valuable time and resources.

Djordje Jevtic and Ilija Milovic, the co-founders, spent three years gathering feedback from the market and developing their solutions. They created an all-in-one solution that includes a mobile app, enabling hotels and short-term rental businesses to monitor sales, analyze data, onboard new employees, collect and analyze customer feedback, and more. OTA Sync's platform provides a range of innovative features and tools designed to simplify and optimize hotel and property management, making it an ideal solution for the hospitality industry's modern needs.

With a presence in over 150 countries, Cloudbeds is a top-tier platform powering hospitality and enabling tens of thousands of lodging businesses to prosper. Their acclaimed Cloudbeds Platform offers an integrated solution that enhances operations, drives revenue, and elevates guest satisfaction, while a third-party integration marketplace bolsters its offerings. Recognized as a major player in the 2022 IDC Marketscape Report, Cloudbeds is a three-time winner of the number one PMS, Hotel Management System, and Guest Messaging Software accolades from Hotel Tech Report in 2023.

Last month, Cloudbeds integrated with Lightspeed, Toast, Revo, Last.app, Tevalis, and Invu point-of-sale providers, empowering its customers to verify guest data and accumulate charges from onsite establishments, which can be posted directly to guests' rooms.

Guesty, a globally operating company, has been offering a suite of solutions to vacation rental managers since 2013. With over 800 employees, the company has established its presence in 15 offices worldwide. Their platform provides various solutions, including marketing, communications, revenue management, payments, and distribution, all tailored to meet the unique requirements of vacation rental managers. Partnering with industry leaders such as Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Hopper, Guesty provides a comprehensive range of tools that enable vacation rental managers to optimize their operations and enhance the guest experience.

Hotelogix is a cloud-based Hotel Property Management System that offers an all-in-one solution for hotel groups to streamline operations, boost revenues, and provide excellent guest experiences. With a centralized approach to multi-property management, Hotelogix enables hotel groups to increase efficiency, sell more rooms, and witness instant ROI.

Across multiple geographies, including India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North America, and Europe, the company has established itself as a trusted partner to a number of prominent hospitality entities. Its platform has been rated positively by customers and has proven a valuable tool for hotels looking to improve their operations and generate more revenue.

By utilizing the services of the innovative hotel technology firm The Hotels Network, hotels can increase direct bookings. The startup provides various solutions, including personalized messaging and price comparison widgets. The Hotels Network's open API integrates easily with every CRM provider, making it a full-stack growth platform for hotels. By facilitating a two-way flow of information, hoteliers can enhance their direct channel strategies and capitalize on guest data.

Thynk.cloud is a hospitality tech startup that provides exceptional software solutions for hotels. The startup offers a suite of tools that improve hotel operations and guest experiences, including hotel management software and guest engagement platforms. Thynk's innovative multi-property hospitality sales and operation solutions are designed to drive higher-margin sales through data-driven decision-making. The platform, which is powered by Salesforce, covers the entire life cycle of any hospitality process, automating sales, operations, finance, decision-making, and data management to simplify and optimize the hospitality industry.

Lodgify, a software firm founded by Marco D and Dennis Klett, provides vacation rental hosts with a centralized platform for generating and managing bookings. Property owners can manage their vacation rentals and accept bookings from a centralized location using Lodgify's booking platform. Additionally, the company provides a website builder for vacation rental owners to create their websites for their properties. With the company, any host or vacation rental business can start and expand the business by using tech solutions.

OTA Insight provides hotel operators with a platform for revenue management, allowing them to analyze data and optimize their pricing and distribution strategies. The startup offers a suite of APIs for developers to integrate hotel revenue management into their own applications. In addition to Rate Insight, Market Insight, Parity Insight, and Revenue Insight, it provides hoteliers with tools to manage and price rooms directly and through third-party channels.