5 New Travel Startups That Get Users Active and Outside

This week’s roundup of travel startups is all about getting outside and having adventures, whether they be with 25 students in tow or at the top of a tall skyscraper.

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>> EdTrips is a platform for finding field trip destinations and facilitating communication between venues and educators. Teachers can search for outside-the-classroom education programs based on subject, grade and location. They can also collect permission slips, payments and send emails via the platform.

SkiftTake: The majority of 300 million annual field trip transactions take place on paper giving EdTrips an opportunity to bring all aspects of millions of transactions online.

>> ZenSuite is a digital platform for independent hotels that includes a booking engine, CMS, website design, and traffic generation. The software gives hoteliers the ability to accept online reservations, receive online payment, and manage inventory from a single place.

SkiftTake: The affordable all-in-one platform is a great resource for small hotels that need to update their systems for a digital age without a complete overhaul.

>> Skim is an app that suggests new local curated adventures to users each week. The outdoor activity packages are curated from several sources, can be shared with friends directly via the app and booked on the provider’s website.

SkiftTake: Skim’s focus on curating experience that users can easily do in their hometown sets it apart from providers’ websites that users can easily “skim” on their own. This niche is what will allow it to grow its user base.

>> Escape Goats is also a platform providing curated activities, albeit slightly farther from home. Users can browse and book the trip package directly from a mobile device.

SkiftTake: Curated platforms are great when they can identify, target and deliver to a specific kind of customer that will return for the listings they’d otherwise have to spend time searching for on their own. But without that theme unity, the site is as good as any other booking platform.

>> Views on Top is an iOS app that quite literally tells travelers where to find the best views in any city. Users can search by location, the kind of venue, or a certain experience. There is detailed information on each site whether its a five-star restaurant or a mountain climb.

SkiftTake: Fantastic views are undisputedly one of the things that travelers look for in a new place. This app cuts to the chase and helps travelers find those photogenic moments faster.