CONFERENCE Travolution Start-Up Summit 2022: Event for the digital travel sector retur


‘Sector must sustain culture of agility sparked by Covid’


T


he travel industry is in a new era of innovation and businesses must be agile and adapt to changes,


according to experts at the Travolution Start-Up Summit. The event heard from a panel of


business people who each started their business in the years leading up to the pandemic. Kirk Flitton, co-founder and


chief commercial officer of holiday booking app LuckyTrip, said the “last two years of pain” had forced the sector to innovate and this had opened up opportunities for start-up businesses and corporate companies to work together. “I think there is more to do now


in travel than ever, but with fewer resources; and when you are in that position it sparks innovation,” he said. “It also opens up an opportunity


I’m convinced the pandemic gave a massive boost to the industry, especially the tour operating industry


for start-ups to work with more corporate companies and corporates will need to move fast as they have limited resources. “I think because of Covid and the


last two years of pain, we have become a lot more resilient and very agile.” Erika De Santi, co-founder and


international expansion director of millennial-focused tour operator WeRoad, said: “I’m convinced that the pandemic gave a massive boost to the industry, especially to the tour operating industry.


“[During the pandemic],


more traditional operators started becoming more digital.” Delegates were also encouraged


to adapt to changing technology and utilise popular social media tools to grow their businesses. Flitton said: “We did our first paid


TikTok campaign in August which was just insane. “We worked with 10 creators


who were promoting the LuckyTrip concept and we had one of the creators go viral and literally overnight we had 2.5 million views and 45,000 downloads – to put that in context we’d normally have around 25,000 downloads a month. “It was amazing and correlated to


a huge spike in traffic and bookings. It’s a new channel for us and means we’re not overly reliant on Instagram as our main acquisition channel.”


‘Collaboration is critical for new firms to survive’


Travel businesses must collaborate if they are to survive future crises, warned technology company Amadeus. Associate director and UK manager Clare de Bono


hailed the number of start-up businesses that launched amid Covid, but said they were the least likely to make it through another pandemic if one were to hit. She went on to encourage large businesses to support


start-ups as a means of helping them survive as well as helping to promote economic growth. “There are always plenty of start-ups in travel; it’s


quite an entrepreneurial sector,” she said. “And we still have new companies being founded


all the time which, given what has happened with Covid, is really positive. “But these companies are probably the least


financially set up to survive a crisis like Covid, so it’s important that the ecosystem supports start-ups.” She added: “The collaboration between start-ups and large established organisations is absolutely critical


12 3 NOVEMBER 2022


– that’s where the growth comes from as an economy. “GDP is impacted by multinational companies,


absolutely, but mostly by the next up-and-coming start-ups that start to grow and expand.”


Start-ups pitch for


Twelve early-stage travel and technology companies pitched for the chance to be named the 2022 Travolution Start-Up of the Year at the summit. Firms were given five minutes to present


the story of their founding, what they had achieved to date and their ambitions for the future to a panel of four judges. The judges were Mo Shakarchi, chief


product and innovation officer at summit sponsor Collinson; Clare de Bono, associate director and UK country manager for Amadeus; Nick Shay, head of travel and hospitality at Publicis Sapient; and Charles Hardwick, principal at Vitruvian Partners. They grilled each of the presenters and scored all 12 firms to come up with a final


travelweekly.co.uk


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