Startups, Launches, Venture Capital Fundings in Travel Sector by Skift

Headout Raises $10 Million for Activities Tech: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Sean O'Neill, Skift

Investors have bet big on luxury experiences, with investments in Headout, which offers last-minute activities; Key Concierge, which does something similar for luxury rental properties; My Daydream, which offers customized upscale tours; and Seatfrog, which offers last-minute upgrades.

5 days ago

Airline, Hotel, and Silicon Valley Heavyweights Back Startup Aiming to Fix Travel Data Hurdle

Sean O'Neill, Skift

Journera aims to act like a magnet attracting relevant information across company databases about a traveler’s complete trip. It would help, say, a hotel learn when a high-status customer’s flight has been delayed. While the idea is great in theory, it may prove elusive in practice.

6 days ago

Airwallex Receives $80 Million for Payments Tech: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Sean O'Neill, Skift

The past week has seen remarkable fundings of a cross-border payments company, Airwallex, a luggage maker, Away, and a social travel recommendation service, Fever. Of all of these, "fever" has the name that best captures the frothy valuations.

2 weeks ago

Video: Naspers Group Investment Exec Sees Consumer Focus Shifting From Price to Convenience

Dennis Schaal, Skift

Are consumers discarding price-consciousness for convenience? Uber is convenient, but it's also cheap. These dueling preferences aren't clear-cut, and the trends will remain complex.

2 weeks ago

TourRadar Receives $50 Million for Multi-Day Tour Sales: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Sean O'Neill, Skift

TourRadar stands apart from other online sellers of activities with its rare, leading focus on multiday tours. Meanwhile, Triptease, the hotel direct booking specialist, and Chowbotics, a maker of food service robots, also announced funding.

3 weeks ago

New Skift Research Report: Challenges for Hotels to Streamline Back-End Technologies

Rebecca Stone, Skift Research

The hotel tech stack of today should focus entirely on the customer journey and be arranged so that it provides guests a seamless experience. A hotel tech stack that is not integrated on the back-end will feel fragmented on the front-end.

3 weeks ago

Ad Tech Firm Urban Airship Raises $25 Million: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Sean O'Neill, Skift

If you think you've been getting a lot of push notifications from travel companies, you ain't seen nothing yet. Companies like Urban Airship are aiming to make the most of this path for reaching travelers.

4 weeks ago

Indian Online Travel Agency Cleartrip Acquires Flyin

Sean O'Neill, Skift

Cleartrip is the second-place competitor against MakeMyTrip in India's online travel war. Its acquisition of Flyin signals a shift in its focus to the Middle Eastern market, where the price wars are less fierce.

4 weeks ago

Activities Tech Provider Peek Raises $23 Million

Sean O'Neill, Skift

The latest investment comes just in time for Peek, a maker of enterprise software. Its rivals FareHarbor and Bokun have recently been snapped up by larger acquirers Booking Holdings and TripAdvisor. Clocks are ticking.

4 weeks ago

Hotel Tech Consolidation Ramps Up With This Software Merger

Sean O'Neill, Skift

Industry pressure in the hotel technology sector is leading to more technology roll-ups. Expect this to be one of many announcements in the next 18 months.

4 weeks ago

GetYourGuide Will Market Some Tours and Activities Under Its Own Brand

Sean O'Neill, Skift

GetYourGuide is betting that travelers will prefer to book GetYourGuide-branded tours over locally branded ones. This diagonal integration echoes marketing moves made by Oyo in hotels and RedAwning in lodging rentals. But will it work?

4 weeks ago

Hipcamp Raises $9.5 Million for Campsite Booking: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Sean O'Neill, Skift

Public campgrounds were already an alternative form of travel. But now there's "alternative alternative travel." Meet the startup Hipcamp, which is like an Airbnb for privately-owned campsites and hosted experiences.

1 month ago