Travel Tech Insider

When it comes to sexy startup ideas, the travel sector usually ranks at the head of the class. Nearly everyone travels, and thus can relate to the pain points that stem from the challenges inherent in an industry driven by legacy tech platforms, fragmented data, and unsophisticated business models. It’s an industry desperate for disruption.Even so, travel startups tend to get the side-eye from most VCs — despite spawning two of the most disruptive startups in the past decade in Uber and AirBnB. What is it about travel that makes it so tough for startups to get VC funding? Are there alternatives to VC worth exploring, or should we look for ways to repositioning travel startups to make them more enticing for VC investment?In this episode, we chat with Chris Hemmeter, Managing Director of Thayer Ventures, the leading venture firm focused on travel, transportation and hospitality innovation, to get his perspective on why venture is challenging for travel startups, what he’s most intrigued by, and his advice for founders in the sector as they build and scale their companies.Being thesis-driven vs. opportunisticThe role of the strategic LPAre travel startups “VC-able”? Or do they need a re-brand?Is corporate venture a viable path in lieu of institutional VC?How do you create “alpha”, the value-add superpowers you bring that other VCs can’t match?Is venture capital the right answer? If not, what is?What’s exciting on the travel tech investor horizon?Follows:Travel Tech Insider podcastGilad Berenstein - hostCara Whitehill - hostChris Hemmeter - guestGo Deeper:Travel Startups: Disruption From Within? McKinseySo many great Travel Tech startups with so few Venture Rounds Gilad Berenstein, LinkedINDo You Need Venture Capital? PhocusWireTop Travel VCs on Opportunities and Challenges for Innovation, Fundraising PhocusWireThe Travel and Mobility Tech Sector Attractiveness Report Lufthansa Innovation Hub and TNMT

Destination marketing is one of the biggest forces powering the travel industry that we rarely talk about. It’s the Goliath economic influencer hiding in plain sight, using its invisible hand to directly and indirectly guide the way we think about where to travel, how to travel, and what we do once when we get there.And it’s an industry in tremendous flux: Covid, “revenge travel”, rising interest rates, stimmy checks, overtourism, the ‘work from anywhere’ trend, sustainability, war, Gen Z & the influencer demographic, TikTok and (of course) AI have all had an impact on how destinations position themselves to their various constituencies.How are destinations managing this revolution in their business? Guests Dr. Richie Karaburun of NYU’s Tisch Center of Hospitality and Rafat Ali, founder of travel trade media outlet Skift, join the pod to talk about the places and institutions leading this next generation of destination marketing, how to address ethical concerns with tourism, and how technology is creating new approaches to influencing where and how we travel.Destination Marketing: bigger than you thinkDestinations as products, destinations as brandsAre we over overtourism?What does “sustainability” mean for a destination?Making the pie bigger: how are destinations expanding their focus on inclusivity?Technology: AI, TikTok, personalization vs. mass marketIs tourism a force for good?Follows:Travel Tech Insider podcastGilad Berenstein - hostCara Whitehill - hostDr. Richie Karaburun - guestRafat Ali - guestGo Deeper:Destinations International organizationArchitects of Destination Advocacy podcast by Destinations InternationalSkift Tourism Skift’s hub for destination marketing & tourism coverageMesa recognized as one of the most accessible destinations by travel booking app AZ FamilyNYU SPS Tisch Center of Hospitality, Destinations International collaborate **Hotel ManagementDestination organizations: Supporting the tourism industry, sustainable travel, and more HospitalityNet

Exploring the delicate balance between innovation and regulation, Mark Farrell discusses lessons from Uber, Lyft, and AirBnB. He advises startups on how to engage with regulators and emphasizes the importance of technology brains in government. The podcast dives into the regulatory environment for AI and driverless vehicles, highlighting the need for constructive engagement with authorities.