Mumbai: October 2016: Travel is an upcoming industry and, as a result, there are quite a few startups in this space, right from booking apps to apps for crowd-sourced travel information, and everything in between. The most successful travel startups will always be the ones that are tech savvy, responsive to customer needs, and have the ability to remain flexible as the travel industry grows and changes in the near future.
1. The Growth of Travel Bloggers
In this day and age of instant information, travellers never visit a place without studying about it in advance, and travel bloggers have quite a bit of influence on the decision-making process here. Travelers are frequently getting their information and recommendations from bloggers, rather than people in the travel industry. Hence, content creation and curation at this level is something that travel startups should definitely focus on.
2. The Importance Of Mobile Marketing
While social media and content marketing are important, they aren’t enough. Professional travel companies must also keep in mind that travelers rely on staying connected, to the extent of reading up on the wi-fi availability and potential connectivity problems in areas they are planning to travel to. So if travel startups opt to educate travellers about this, they will definitely prove immensely useful to them.
3. The Emerging Popularity of Alternative Accommodations
While the majority of travelers still prefer to stay in hotels, an increasing number of travelers are interested in staying in alternative accommodations, which is why a concept like Airbnb became so successful overnight. Though most travel startups may not have to deal with this trend, it’s definitely something to look out for.
4. The Popularity Of Niche Travel
While travellers have plenty of options when it comes to ticket booking, hotel booking and travel companies, there are still many niche sectors that haven’t gotten the exposure they deserve. For instance, while group tours have been pretty much done to death, themed group tours for niche travellers have just started gaining popularity, and the scope is just growing.
“While it looks like the travel industry is saturated with agencies, apps and startups, there’s still plenty of room for innovative concepts,” says Viren Batra, co-founder of Nirvana Excursions.“That’s why, we are constantly innovating and trying to come up with new ideas for the travel space.”
