Five New Travel Startups Fit For a More Interactive Vacation

Travelers today can make their trip whatever it is that they want it to be from a five-star experience to local experience by using the platforms and tools that cater to their interests. The startups in this round-up each build on that idea by giving travelers the power to sculpt their own experience.

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>> Family Vacation is a peer-to-peer travel site created specifically for families that gives users on both end the opportunity to interact with a family from a different country, share cultural information, and explore a new place.

SkiftTake: The sharing economy has made local experiences more accessible than ever before there’s no better way to teach a child about the world than first-hand relationships with other cultures. It’ll be a difficult concept to build, but an important one at that.

>> Muzeums is an app and platform that helps museums and attractions deliver a more interactive experience to visitors. The app serves up content including guides and games to complement the museum’s assets based on visitors’ profile and interests.

SkiftTake: Technology today can serve to reinvigorate museums by making the content more personalized to individual visitors. This is great for museums, which can attract more visitors, and for travelers, who can learn more about the art or items in front of them.

>> cineRent is a peer-to-peer rental platform for film and photo gear. Users can quickly find cameras, tripods, cranes or lenses in a destination where they are traveling to, reserve the gear and then pick it up when they arrive.

SkiftTake: Another iteration of the sharing economy, which makes creating great visual work possible without the cost or risk of transporting often expensive equipment.

>> Travelers Chat is a group for Airbnb hosts where they can discuss best practices for pricing, listings, and guest experience. There are also specific pages for cities and for super hosts in addition to a hotline for questions.

SkiftTake: There are many companies today that promise to help Airbnb hosts boost profits with algorithms or write better listings, but connecting with other hosts is one of the simplest ways to get new ideas that improve guest satisfaction and increase rates.

>> Terminal Delay is a website that provides information on airport amenities and flight status updates for travelers dealing with a delay. The site also includes a chat room where other flyers’ dealing with delays can commiserate together.

SkiftTake: Terminal Delay does not offer anything that an airport arrivals board or already established player like GateGuru does not, which will make it difficult to attract new users.