Skift Take

The goal should be to use the Internet to make the pleasure of bookings - from hosting guests to booking plane tickets - easier and faster. These startups get that.

 

Each of this week’s startups use digital tools, from booking platforms to e-readers, to help solve real-life travel obstacles for travelers and travel businesses.

For all of our SkiftSeedlings collection, check out our archives here.

>> Base7Booking is an online booking system created for hotels with up to 50 rooms. The engine was built by a hotelier who saw a need the need for a platform that could affordably take smaller properties from pen and paper to digital bookings. The system includes a yield management tool, is accessible on mobile, and can incorporate food and beverage orders.

SkiftTake: Small hotels have to accept online bookings and be able to manage rooms online in order to keep pace with today’s digital innovations. Affordable told like Base7Booking are what make this possible.

>> Inflight Reader is an app that gives flyers access to a library for magazines that can be downloaded and read for free for up to 24 hours.

SkiftTake: Recreating a physical magazine rack on a digital platform is a smart idea, especially since it extends reading time for passengers. Airports can save on entertainment while still catering to customers’ desires.

>> RideScout is a mobile app that helps users plan short trips between two points. Users filter transit options, including taxis, bikeshares and car shares, in real-time to find the fastest and easiest way between point A and B.

SkiftTake: With the number of public transit options growing in most cities, a tool that differentiates the cost and time between the options is needed. It’s too early to tell if RideScout will break through existing options for individual modes of transport.

>> FestBlast is a trip planning platform for music festivals. Users can search festivals, organize their trip and personalize their festival experience.

SkiftTake: Music festivals are growing in popularity and there are tons of options from small local events to global parties. Most travelers will stick to the travel booking sites they already know so FestBlast will likely become just one other resource among those already used.

>> Go Dish is a daily offers app that gives users the opportunity to pick up one specific dish at a heavily discounted price from restaurants around San Francisco.

SkiftTake: The idea of a specialized limited-time offer is likely to incentivize some users, but flash sales have traditionally floundered in travel.

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Tags: skiftseedlings, startups

Photo credit: RideScout is a mobile app that helps users plan short trips between two points. RideScout

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