official opening in March, HRH the Duke of York welcomed in the start-ups. As a result, there is a greater exposure to senior industry executives, partners, investors and mentors, “to help accelerate the growth and development of their businesses”, ac- cording to London and Partners. Its chief operating officer Andrew Cooke adds that the ideas and products developed at Traveltech Lab “could prove to be game- changers for the industry – whether for leisure or business travel”.
“Any new technology that streamlines travel flows and processes is good for all passengers, whether they are travelling on business or leisure”
due-diligence done. And it’s an affirmation of our own business idea.” Beaconia is working with the Hackney Museum, and an upcoming sci-fi event, to provide beacons and an online content management system to help exhibitors capitalise on this emerging technology. Hudson predicts success in the events
sector. “Exhibitor stands, if quiet, might send out a message to delegates’ phones saying: ‘Pop round for a free drink,’ with attendant directions. Or delegates would be able to tap the beacon on a stand, in the same way you tap with an Oyster card, and download a business card and brochure.” It’s also a return to travel for Hudson, having previ- ously built white-label websites to allow regional airports to sell flights and hotels. His technology was sold to Airport Direct Travel 15 years ago. Another advantage, according to Andy
Owen-Jones, founder of big data specialist BD4Travel, is the travel focus: “We are just opening up our presence in the UK and so the lab is ideal. The location and the‘can-do’ atmosphere are perfect. Having an atmo- sphere totally focused on travel is great.” Then there’s the media interest – at the
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
BUSINESS VERSUS LEISURE However, currently, business travel appears somewhat under-represented among the finalists. One might argue the leisure dominance is because the lab is more about promoting tourism to London. London and Partners’ mission statement includes its aim to build the capital’s international reputation and to attract investment and visitor-spend (think beacons around London museums, or augmented reality – courtesy of Timelooper, another Traveltech Lab start-up – around the city’s iconic sites). Scalability is one hurdle. Owen-Jones
says: “Large businesses are less likely to take a risk than a consumer, and when you are selling to a major travel brand, they need to see that you will still be around in a few years. In future rounds, as the eco- system gets more established, you will see more B2B players. But all the start-ups cite funding as one of their largest challenges, and that means you will have more B2C rather than B2B players in the first wave.” Corporate partners so far include
Gatwick Airport and – just announced as lead partner – Hotelbeds. Gatwick’s initial involvement will be to provide the businesses with a high-spec workspace, as well as helping them to accelerate their growth.
A Gatwick spokesperson adds: “Any new technology that streamlines travel flows and processes is good for all passengers, whether they are travelling on business or leisure.”
THE COMPLETE PICTURE In the business travel sector, BD4Travel says it eventually aims to give travel sellers or travel managers a complete picture on which customers are looking for what, and how their supply chain is reacting, but adds
the “complicating factor” for travel manage- ment companies is that they need to add in a layer of policy and rules.“However, we see some great areas to work on,” says Owen-Jones. “For example, can we spot people before they go off policy and offer them something that really meets their needs? Part of our approach is to train our algorithms to spot patterns that are significant but may not be obvious to a human operator.” Meanwhile, real-time add-ons specialist start-up Epteca imagines a corporate path. Head of sales Carl Denton says: “We are finding an increasing number of business travellers are looking to find some down- time to explore the destinations they visit. We are keen to capitalise on this market based on our leisure skills to profile the specific needs of the traveller based around their time constraints.” Whatever final direction the 13 start- ups take, it is still early days for the UK’s first travel industry incubator. MICEbook’s Shah says: “I don’t have an exit strategy in mind – I’m passionate about what I do”. And passion, perhaps more than
any other strategy, might just be the key ingredient to long-term success.
LUCKY 13 The Traveltech
Lab finalists...
01. Photospotland 02. Lulu Trip 03. Epteca 04. MICEbook 05. Timelooper 06. Great Little Place 07.
Feedbackfor.com 08. Touriocity 09. Beaconia 10. Localoids 11. BD4Travel 12. Great Dest 13. Much Better Adventures
BBT MAY/JUNE 2015 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128