This week’s roundup looks at a platform that lets homeowners bid on vacation rentals with time, a multi-desitnation trip planning website for Italy, and an app that helps meeting planners prepare for smooth airport arrivals. It also looks at new travel media company that wants to embody the future of destination  marketing and a crowd sourcing website made for students.

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»  Demeure is a travel marketplace that connects vacation property owners and travelers. The platform is different from other vacation rental sites in that it offers home owners the opportunity to swap nights at their property for a free stay somewhere else, while offering travelers the opportunity to bid on high-end homes with cash or time. Demeure has private assistants and on-the-ground hosts that help travelers find unique experiences.

SkiftTake: Part vacation rental and part home exchange, Demeure’s unique value proposition might be enough to differentiate it in an increasingly crowded market.

»  RoutePerfect is a multi-destination trip planning platform. The website currently only plans trips for Italy with plans to expand to other countries in the future. Users pick the type of trip they are taking and how often they want to move around to receive a suggested trip itinerary. Hotels and transportation can not be booked directly on the site.

SkiftTake: Multi-destination and multi-modal trip planning websites are most popular, and likely most used, in Europe where travelers commonly move around to several cities in one trip. Expanding outside of Italy and improving the booking experience will help RoutePerfect attract new users.

»  GruupMeet is a mobile app and desktop platform that helps meeting planners ensure business clients and conference attendees have a smooth airport arrival. The app includes flight tracking, geolocation to track attendees, communication platforms, and post-event reports.

SkiftTake: Hotels, airlines, and organizations are working to attract conference attendees as business travel picks up worldwide. Although independent travelers are increasingly moving outside the corporate travel system, any technology that helps boost an event or company’s reputation has the potential to take off.

»  Travel+ is a travel media company that aims to help destinations engage with social travelers based on their individual interests. Described as destination marketing platform, the website curates travel news, offers original content, and features destination reviews.

SkiftTake: Smart destination marketers are currently engaging potential visitors via social media and Travel+ would have to grow significantly before offering locations a better way to reach and influence travelers.

»  Project Travel is a peer-funding platform for educational travel experiences. Users create a project and explain why they want to partake in an organization’s or university’s travel program. The platform also provides engagement analytics for university programs and a network of recent graduates with international experience for global companies

SkiftTake: The very well-designed site is easy and attractive to use. The mission of the startup — to assist young students without the necessary funds to travel — is timely given the growing importance of international work experience. But successfully funding trips is still a huge obstacle for both the site and early adopters.

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The Daily Newsletter

Our daily coverage of the global travel industry. Written by editors and analysts from across Skift’s brands.

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Tags: skiftseedlings, travel apps

Photo credit: A screen grab of the homepage of Travel+. Screenshot / Travel+

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