Travel Venture Capital Hit a Decade Low in 2023: Where the Growth Is Now – Skift Research
Photo Caption: Unsplash/ Image is of a unicorn money box and it represents the tours & experiences operators Klook and GetYourGuide which are each private companies with valuations above $1 Billion, thus granting them unicorn status. Klook and GetYourGuide were the top two most funded travel companies in 2023.
Skift Take
Travel venture capital hit a decade low of $2.9 billion in 2023, but early 2024 signals a rebound with increased investments from Asia and the Middle East and a focus on experiences and AI.
Skift Research's latest report explores the state of venture capital investment in the travel industry. Below we present 5 key insights and takeaways.
Insight 1: Venture capital investment in the travel industry has dropped to its lowest level in a decade.Travel had only $2.9 billion of venture capital (VC) investment in 2023, compared to $5 billion in 2022 and nearly $9 billion in 2019. It was the lowest level in 10 years.
The number of deals has also dropped considerably, from 1,021 deals in 2019 to only 587 in 2023. The number of deals in 2023 dropped more than 20% vs 2022 – the second steepest decline since the 2020 lockdowns.
The declines in travel investment track the overall declines in VC, which continues to struggle in a tough macroeconomic environment marked by higher rates and declining valuations.
In 2020 and 2021, travel VC underperformed the total VC market. However, in 2022 and 2023, both saw similar dec
