As professionals travel the world in search of fresh possibilities, the demand for efficient, pleasant, and well-organized travel has never been greater. The right accessories can make all the difference in transforming a stressful trip into a smooth and successful one. Once you’ve secured your trusted travel bag, it’s time to charge up for the adventure ahead.
In this article, we will discuss the essentials you need to improve the comfort, organization, and overall enjoyment of your work travels.
Must-Have Accessories for Business Travel – Smart Luggage
Consider a sleek and lightweight bag that serves as a high-tech travel companion as well as a container for your belongings. It has useful features like integrated charging connections and dedicated tech compartments. Some smart baggage even incorporates GPS tracking, so you always know where your suitcase is. Having luggage isn’t only about looking good; it’s about making your trip more convenient while keeping your devices charged throughout.
RFID-blocking Wallet and Passport Holder
A passport holder and wallet that blocks RFID signals are indispensable equipment for business travelers since they offer an extra degree of protection. They serve as a barrier, stopping any illegal access and guaranteeing the privacy of your important information. These accessories are built with functionality in mind, with designated spaces for cards, boarding passes, and other travel necessities. The product is composed of sturdy materials that can tolerate any abrasion.
Lint Roller
Must-Have Accessories for Business Travel – Lint Roller
A furball stuck to your suit or a stray piece of lint can make you look sloppy or unprofessional. You absolutely need a lint roller if you want to prevent this scenario. This compact item is used to remove lint, hair, dust, and additional residue from garments, furnishings, and other surfaces. Many different types of lint rollers are available, so you can find one that suits your needs. Some lint rollers even have ergonomic, easy-to-grip handles. They also include refillable adhesive sheets, which prevents the need to purchase a new one each time.
Plastic Collar Stays
Must-Have Accessories for Business Travel – Plastic Collar Stays
Plastic collar stays are the unsung heroes of a neat shirt collar. They can survive the rigors of travel without bending or losing their shape. Plastic stays are flexible, allowing for pleasant movement while maintaining collar shape. They are also often reasonably priced, making them a cost-effective solution. Since plastic stays are not as sharp as metal ones, you don’t have to worry about tearing your delicate garments.
Mini Steaming Iron
Must-Have Accessories for Business Travel – Smart Luggage
Appearances are essential for the discerning business traveler. A small travel steamer can make all the difference in keeping your business wear wrinkle-free and presentation-ready. A polished appearance can create a lasting impression on both clients and coworkers. It’s the little things that really make you stand out. Due to their space-saving design, they can easily fit into luggage or carry-on bags without taking up much room. Delicate textiles used in business wear frequently react poorly to standard ironing. A travel steamer is gentler on materials, making it ideal for such occasions.
Power Bank
For today’s business traveler, a portable charger is an essential component that guarantees your devices stay charged and operational. This little device becomes your best buddy when you’re traveling, particularly on layovers or in locations where finding a power outlet is like looking for a needle in a haystack. To meet the varied needs of customers, power banks are available in a range of sizes, capacities, and designs.
Portable WiFi
A portable wifi device generates a wifi signal using a cellular data connection. This gives you the option to access the internet without using a traditional fixed-line connection on your laptop, tablet, smartphone, or other WiFi-enabled devices. It’s compact and lightweight, so you can take it with you wherever you go. You can set up a workstation anywhere: a cozy cafe, a co-working area, or even a picturesque park bench. Public wifi networks, particularly those at airports and hotels, might be vulnerable to hacking. A portable wifi router provides a secure private network, protecting your sensitive data and guaranteeing that all of your online actions are safeguarded.
Universal Travel Adapter
It’s a compact yet indispensable piece of equipment that seamlessly allows you to plug in your devices anywhere in the world. Since different countries have different electrical socket designs and voltages, a universal adapter serves as a bridge, allowing travelers to plug in their gadgets regardless of the destination’s power requirements. They are designed to be lightweight and portable, making them easy to transport.
AirTag
Must-Have Accessories for Business Travel – AirTags
It’s common for business travelers to juggle several bags, and it can be a nightmare to lose track of one in the frenzy of the airport. When your luggage has an AirTag attached to it, you can simply use the Find My app on your phone to track its location in real-time. Airtags have a long battery life, lasting up to a year before needing replacement. They’re also reasonably priced, making them a worthwhile purchase for frequent travelers. You can even easily share your location with others.
On The Go Stain Remover
Unexpected stains can wreak havoc on your professional appearance. With a portable stain remover, you can quickly clean up stains to avoid embarrassment and to make sure you look put together throughout your trip. Given that they are pocket-sized, they are lightweight and take up little space. Stain removers are available in a variety of forms, ranging from pens and wipes to sprays and travel-sized detergents. Choose the most suitable one for what you need.
Travel Pillow
A quality travel cushion can avoid unpleasant stiffness and soreness and offer much-needed neck support. Travel pillows are useful for more than just sleeping during the night. You can use them for neck support during long journeys, lumbar support while sitting in small airplane seats, or even as a makeshift pillow for your head while reading or working on your laptop. A comfortable travel pillow can be a small but useful tool for relaxing, allowing you to arrive at your destination feeling calm and better prepared to take on the day.
Conclusion
Business travel is not easy, but packing the right accessories can help you make your trip more seamless. Being ready for unforeseen circumstances helps you feel more secure and less stressed. Packing wisely allows you to focus on the adventure, knowing you’re prepared for whatever comes your way.
Did you know, as per the report of Emburse Certify, an average US business traveler spends approximately $949 on their business trip including all accommodation, airfare and other business expenses? This means that spending on business travel is an integral part of the business.
The return on investment in business travel is approximately $2.90 for every dollar spent on travel, so businesses should plan for business travel for their employees. So keeping track of travel expenses is an important aspect to organize everything and run the business efficiently.
Travel Expense Tracking Software is dedicated to serving you in this regard and helping you to manage your travel expenses. Here we have provided a list of the best travel expense-tracking software so that you do not need to search for software.
Companies spend heavily on business travel, so in order to keep a track record of every penny spent on travel, businesses use travel expense tracking software. The software is well-equipped with features that help in organizing, monitoring and analyzing travel expenses.
Businesses of all types can track their expenses and align employee travel with their corporate travel policy to ensure compliance. You get a detailed idea of how much you have spent on which employee and plan appropriately for future travel taking the past travel experience into perspective.
So without further delay, let’s dive into the list of top travel expense tracking software.
List of Top Travel Expense Tracking Software
The followings are the best Travel and Expense Management Software
TripActions
Rating
4.7/5
Best For
Traveler Planer for Each Employee
TripActions is a powerful and robust travel and expense management software that is trusted by more than 8000 companies worldwide. Launched in the year 2015, TripActions is dedicated to providing the best user experience when it comes to managing business trips.
It’s the only platform you need to manage physical and virtual cards for corporate travel expenses, and hotel and flight bookings with exclusive deals, cashback and rewards. Corporate travel policy plays a vital role in a business, this software provides real-time reports to ensure best-in-class business and policy decisions.
TripActions
The next-generation online booking tool of TripActions can save a lot of time in manual booking here and there, it integrates everything in an organized manner, and you can also access it through their mobile app. The enhanced user experience to book tickets and manage expenses in one place is incredible. It also rewards your employee in the form of Amazon Rewards if they save the company money on hotel bookings.
Features of TripActions
Customizable and preset travel policies
Robust travel reporting
Travel booking and management with ease
Physical and virtual corporate cards
Expense management in automation
Next Generation online booking tool
Rewards and cashback while booking
24/7 travel agent support
Pros:
Ease of use
Great support
Rewards while booking flights and hotels
Competitive flight and hotel rates
Cons:
Not connected with all airlines and hotels
Android app stucks sometimes
Not immediate rebooking when the flight gets cancelled
Pricing:
Contact the sales team for pricing
TravelBank
Rating
4.4/5
Best For
Tracking and Expense Management
Improve the visibility of travel expenses and manage them efficiently with TravelBank. It is an all-in-one solution for managing your expenses, booking, and cards. More than 50,000 companies are already using TravelBank to effectively manage their travel affairs.
Business travel becomes seamless and hassle-free with features like expense reports, multi-level approval, online booking for lodging and flights, integration, and much more. For early-stage companies and individuals, it offers an expense-free plan in which features like unlimited receipt scans and unlimited expense reports are included for free.
TravelBank
The mobile-centric approach of this software provides the best-in-class mobile app to manage everything from the convenience of your smartphone. The advanced UI acts as a cherry on the cake that makes the app easy to use. It also offers a powerful desktop app to use in the office and improve efficiency.
Features of TravelBank
Brex cardholders will get an exclusive of 4x Brex points on travel spend
Discounted corporate rates on flights and hotel booking
Real-time reporting
Customizable travel policy
Incentives in the form of rewards
Travel tracker duty-of-care dashboard
Pros:
Rewards employees for saving the company’s money
Easy-to-use interface
Travel budgeting
Cons:
A free trial is not available
Confusing reports and expense tab
The report scanning tool is not up to the mark
Pricing
Travel: $15 /user/month
Expense: $8 /user/month
All-in-one: Custom pricing
TravelPerk
Rating
4.6/5
Best For
Medium sizes Businesses
TravelPerk is an all-in-one software solution to track the expenses of business trips along with all the necessary features like booking hotels and flights, reporting, compliance, and much more. Over 5000 companies worldwide are using TravelPerk to manage their business trips and increase their productivity with robust reporting and analytics.
FlexiPerk is the most unique feature of TravelPerk that empowers you to book flights, hotel, car, and train anytime and you can cancel your booking in a single click, no question asked. You’ll get your refund in a single click. This service is currently available in the US, UK, Switzerland, and EU.
TravelPerk
Easy to create and customizable Simple Travel Policy ensures you stay within spending limits. This policy will help travelers to stay within their budget and enable them to manage their travel.
Features of TravelPerk
Group booking facility for 9 or more people
Vast Inventory
Flexible travel policy
Easy VAT recovery
GreenPerk feature to offset spending
Pros:
Centralized invoicing
Instant set up
A free trial is available
Cons:
Comparatively High pricing
Don’t have the option to view flights based on your budget
Inefficient customer support
Pricing:
Starter: First 5 booking free then 5%/booking
Premium: $99/month + 3%/booking
Pro: $299/month + 3%/booking
Custom: Contact sales for price
Zoho expense
Rating
4.5/5
Best For
Automated Expense Reporting
Zoho is a well-known and trusted Saas provider that offers varieties of cloud-based services to help businesses run their business smoothly and efficiently. Zoho expense is another great software of Zoho that provides travel and expense management features. Trusted by thousands of companies like Zomato, Makemytrip, and PUMA, it is available in more than 150 countries worldwide.
Zoho Expense
Empower your employee to add receipts and convert them into expenses seamlessly. You can set up approval for ticket costs and trips to manage your corporate travel more effectively. All the reports are stored in the cloud so that you do need not to worry about any paper in the future.
Apart from all the basic features of travel management software, you can create a user and assign roles to them. You can also restrict access to employees and set daily, monthly and annual spending limits.
Egencia has served more than 9000 companies across 60 countries and was launched in 2002. Having a great experience in the field, Egencia is committed to modernizing travel and expense management. End-to-end corporate travel planning becomes seamless and effortless with the powerful and robust software of Egencia.
Simplifying the task of corporate travel planning is the priority of Egencia, and ensuring that it provides an easy-to-use user interface for booking, approving travel requests and modifying travel. Your employee’s well-being and safety are a priority, and Egencia Travel Advisor ensures this with travel alerts and advice.
Egencia
It optimizes the travel experience of your employees through the program like Egencia top 100 corporate hotels. This program shortlists the hotels that are committed to putting the customer experience first.
Features of Egencia
Travel management consulting
Egencia analytics studio
Benchmarking dashboard to compare peers
Travel policy management tool
Geographic risk level indicators
Pros:
Automated reporting
Robust mobile app
Meeting and event planning experts
Cons:
customer support is average
Not intuitive interface
A free trial is not available
Pricing:
Request custom price quotes
Coupa
Rating
4.1/5
Best For
Procurement Modules
Coupa launched its end-to-end travel and expense management software in 2022 to help businesses take care of their Corporate travel more efficiently. It is new to the field of corporate planning but has significant experience in providing similar services like contract management, supplier management, invoicing, treasury management, and similar services.
From planning a business trip to booking flights and hotels to providing traveler support, expense reports and compliance, it caters for everything you want in a travel tracking software.
Coupa
Enhanced visibility in expense insights gives you a clear picture of all your travel spending in one place, using this you become capable to gauge your spending. The advanced trip price prediction of the Coupa is capable enough to predict the spending that may occur during a future trip so that you can prepare for it and stay within your budget.
Features of Coupa
Automated expense reporting
Intelligent audit algorithm
Coupa’s trip price predictions
Valuable Insights from Community.ai
Smart itineraries
Pros:
AI fraud detection
Real-time travel insights
IOS and Android mobile app
Cons:
Price is not disclosed
Lack of customization
Not interactive and modern dashboard
Pricing:
Contact sales
SAP Concur
Rating
4/5
Best For
Travel, Expense and Invoice Management
SAP Concur is another great software to consider for your business travel and expense management. It is declared as a leader in the IDC market scape report for travel and expense management. Through this, you take control of all your spending that happens on a business trip. Duty of care is a legal obligation for every business to ensure the safety of their employees, so this software ensures a safe travel experience and helps you stay compliant with the laws.
SAP Concur
A well-drafted travel policy can save a huge chunk of your money by giving clear information on which expense is reimbursable and which is not. SAP Concur will help you to prepare the best travel policy that you can customize at any time. Even when you book your ticket through a channel other than SAP Concur, it captures the details and helps you manage each and every expense. It also provides you with consolidated reports of each and every expense in a single dashboard.
Features of SAP Concur
Triplink to capture the booking made outside of SAP Concur
Easy travel compliance for employees
Employees are empowered to book their ticket
Speed up the request and approval process with Concur request
ExpenseIT to simplify expense reporting
Pros:
Availability of iOS and Android app
Easy reimbursement
Slack integration
Cons:
Old and messy interface
Price is not disclosed
Cumbersome to audit expenses
Pricing:
Contact sales
Expensify
Rating
4.4/5
Best For
Expense Tracking
Expensify is the deserving candidate in our list of top travel tracking software because of its amazing features and huge customer base. Launched in the year 2008, it has served more than 12 million people worldwide. It is one of the companies in the world that has the highest revenue per employee.
Advanced features like Smart Scan have the ability to scan all receipts, streamlining the approval process and speeding up the reimbursement process. Since everything is in one streamlined process, it can integrate all of your business travel expenses into your favorite accounting software.
Expensify
Apart from all the basic features like expense management, bill payments, invoicing and travel management, it also offers the Expensify card which earns you up to 4% rewards on every purchase. 10% of the revenue earned on each Expensify card will be donated to Expensify’s charitable organization known as Expensify.org.
Features of Expensify
Expensify Card
Smart scan
Notification alert and rebooking of other flights when the flight got cancelled
Easy booking through chat with concierge
Streamlined travel compliance
Corporate card reconciliation
Multiple approvers
Advanced tax tracking
Pros:
PCI-compliant security
Delegated access
Reasonable pricing
User-friendly mobile app
Cons:
No option to filter the expense list
Difficult to add approves
Smart scan fails sometimes
Pricing:
Free: $0
Collect: $5/user/month
Control: $9/user/month
Chromeriver
Rating
3.7/5
Best For
Document-related Processes
Chomeriver is an end-to-end travel and expense management software that mitigates the hassle of managing corporate travel. It helps organizations automate and streamline their document-related processes, such as document creation, review, and approval. The platform also includes features for collaboration, document storage and management, and integration with other business systems and tools.
Chomeriver
The ACFE survey estimates that businesses lose 5% of revenue each year due to fraud and out-of-policy spending. Chromeriver automates compliance and expense management to save time and detect such frauds.
Features of Chromeriver
Improved budgeting and forecasting
Easy integration with any travel management company
Real-time reporting of expenses
Prioritized safety and awareness
Seamless payment data tracking
Availability of reimbursement card
Pros:
Show progress of reimbursement
Mileage tracking
OCR capability
Duty of care compliance
Cons:
Pricing is not disclosed
Not wholly dedicated to travel management
Difficult to navigate UI
Pricing:
Contact the support team for pricing
Emburse Certify
Rating
4.5/5
Best For
Quick Approvals and Expense Reports
Emburse Certify is a software solution that makes travel and expense management, report and analytics, and reimbursement easy and efficient. Having a user base of more than 12 million and a presence in more than 120 countries, this software is trusted and offers all the necessary features to track travel expenses.
Empower your employee to travel without the headache of thinking much about trip planning because this software handles everything from start to end with full flexibility. You’ll find the best corporate rates for travel booking for flights, rail, hotel, and car rental.
Emburse Certify
Contact the support team anytime via chat, phone, or email and get your query solved immediately. With Certify, your employees are always in the compliance area of your corporate policy. You have full flexibility to modify the policy at any time and change will reflect in real-time.
Features of Emburse Certify
Data autofill and report scanning
Automated policy enforcement
Full reporting suite with analytics
Multiple user roles
Control of approval routing
Pros:
Available in 140+ currencies
Credit card integration
IOS and Android mobile app
Cons:
A free trial is not available
A lot of back and forth creates inconvenience
Pricing:
Certify now: $12 /user/month
Professional and Enterprise: Contact support
Conclusion
From planning a corporate trip to completing the entire trip, everything needs to be reported perfectly without missing anything. The above list of software helps in everything from travel booking to managing expenses easily, so choose the best one from the list and save a lot of time and resources in tracking travel expenses.
FAQs
What is Travel and Expense management software?
Travel and expense management or tracking software allows and provides users with a platform for planning, purchasing, and recording travel expenses. It also ensures employee work-related travel adheres to company policy.
How do you manage travel expenses?
Avoiding business class is one best practice that goes without saying, but here are some other ways you can reduce your air travel expenses:
Book tickets in advance
Don’t stick to one favourite booking website
Partnering with airlines
Reduce costs by scheduling meetings well
Use Travel Expense Management software for tracking expenses
How to choose the best Travel Expense Tracking Software?
You should consider several factors before choosing the best travel expense tracking software for your business such as whether your employee is traveling more on roads or they travel more by air, for this make a list of priorities and features that you need in your software.
What are the best Travel Expense Tracking Software?
The following are the best travel and expense management software
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Expedia.
Are the countries present on this globe closer to you? Does the word ‘travelling’ boost your daily life activities? It always accounts for around 1 out of every 11 jobs connecting its workers globally, emotionally and most importantly physically of course not on a device, but in the real atmosphere where memories do matter the most. It expands minds, feeds souls and opens hearts! Simply, travelling is a force for good.
Expedia is an American travel organization for both consumers and small businesses. It is a travel portal offering travelers a great variety of hotels in their desired destinations and many more. Read the Expedia Success Story below!
Expedia – Company Highlights
Startup Name
Expedia
Headquarters
Bellevue, Washington, US
Industry
Online Ticket booking, Hotel Booking, Travel Agency
Expedia is such an online American company that is considered to be the 8th largest travel agency in the United States. It is the one that cares about each and everyone’s budget and activities of every kind, especially during this era of competitive rates.
Rich Barton is the founder and the CEO of the company. He initially began as a General Manager at Microsoft. Then he worked at various other companies as a Board Director most of the time. He completed his education at Stanford University.
Expedia – Startup Story
Expedia initially began providing online travel services on the Microsoft Network toward the end of 1996. Microsoft in 2001 agreed to sell its interest in Expedia and it was a deal that was finalized the next year. Expedia expanded in many ways.
It grew from selling flight tickets to providing a vast range of travel products such as hotels and packaged travel plans! It also entered the corporate travel market and expanded internationally, opening sites in Canada, and other European countries.
Expedia – Mission and Vision
The mission and the vision of the company Expedia is to power global travel for everyone and everywhere!
Expedia – Tagline, Slogan and Logo
Expedia Logo
The new tagline of the company is, ‘It matters who you travel with!‘
Expedia – Business Model
Expedia has got a merchant model when it comes to the offering of hotel rooms! Expedia buys hotel accommodations at a discounted price and then turns around and sells it at a sizable markup to the end-user. Such sort of rooms are always booked in advance by the clients and then paid for hotel rooms during the time of the main purchase done by the clients.
Expedia – Revenue Model
Expedia makes money in different ways! The greatest of all those ways is through hotel reservations, which the company is mainly known for enabling clients to do. Around 70%-75% of Expedia’s revenue is generated from hoteliers, the lodging sector. Expedia has got a very simple supply and demand strategy. Flight ticket sales comprise just 3% of the entire revenue generated by the company. Car rental, insurance and other services also do play a role in generating the revenue which is just 15% of the total induced.
It initially buys up a large number of rooms at a discounted price and then advertises the bookings through its site as the cheapest one will find currently in the marketplace.
Expedia – Funding and Investors
Expedia did raise $3.3 billion in funding over the three funding rounds.
The global revenue of Expedia rose by approximately around 65% the last year that is over the previous year. There was a decrease sharply seen to $5.2 billion in 2020 because of the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Anyway, the company’s revenue went up to $8.6 billion in 2021 as the travel need improved.
Expedia – Online and Social Media Presence
Expedia has got its social media profiles present on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and also has got its professional profile present on Linked In. Not only this but also Airbnb has got its name on various famous web portals.
The competitors of the company are CWT, American Express Global Business Travel and Booking Holdings.
CWT
CWT is one of the top competitors of Expedia! It is headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota and was founded in 1994. CWT works in the Travel Industry Sector.
American Express Global Business Travel
American Express Global Business Travel is also one of the top competitors of Expedia. It is headquartered in Jersey City, NJ, USA and was founded in 2013. This company works in the Travel Agency Sector.
Booking Holdings
Booking Holdings is perceived as one of the top competitors of Expedia. It is headquartered at Norwalk, Connecticut and was founded in 1997. It operates in the Packaged Vacations and Your Operations Field.
FAQs
When was Expedia founded?
Expedia was founded in 1996 in Bellevue, Washington, US.
Starting a travel agency will be so much fun, fulfilling, and most profitable career. The start-up costs are relatively low and there are plenty of opportunities for someone with a passion to sell travel. Starting any business is not easy, but it certainly helps you if you have someone to advise you and give out a path. In the travel industry, there is a huge option to earn also the travel and tourism industry plays a major role in the country’s economic development. This is because people always want or need to go to places.
There are several resources available today, anyone with a passion for travelling can easily start a travel agency. In this article, we will talk about how you can start a travel agency by following some important steps. So without any further ado, let’s get started.
A niche is your friend. When you start a travel agency a niche will help you establish your brand, create your travel agency name, and navigate the world when you get to that point. Starting a travel agency without a niche is like travelling without a smartphone.
If you can confidently say that you have found a travel niche that you are passionate and knowledgeable about, then you have made a first step on the road to setting up a successful travel agency. You finding your business idea is one of the most important steps in starting a business.
Total contribution of the Indian tourism industry in billion US dollars
Choose Your Travel Agency’s Name
Choosing a company name for any kind of business is a difficult and tricky task, so you need to take some time to do some research to come up with a creative and effective name. The company name ideas that you select for your travel agency should not only be functional, but they should be catchy and noteworthy too.
When naming your agency, you will want to sit down and give some time to think about your business’s niche; how will you make your travel agency different and how can you set yourself apart? Before you start using the name that you have selected for your travel agency, make sure that it is still available and not already in use by some other company or business.
Choose a Business Structure
A base step in your travel agency business is to create a business structure. Let’s start from the ground up. You need to decide what type of business are going to have. Your options include:
Sole proprietor – Starting a sole proprietorship is easy. You can use your name and Social Security number to get started. You can use this information to get the permits and licenses that you need to start your business. When you are a sole proprietor, you can decide how you want to run your business. You can choose the job that you want to take. When you are a sole proprietor, you get all of the income that you make.
Corporation – As soon as your business becomes a corporation, you gain credibility. People are more likely to work with businesses that are a corporation than those that are not. If you are going to need help financing your business, you may need to start a corporation. When you start a corporation, you can have silent partners, who will help with financing. Corporations can offer benefits for their employees, such as health insurance.
Partnership – It is easy to set up a partnership because it is formed with an agreement between the partners. Just like it is easy to get started, it is easy to dissolve a partnership. As long as one partner is ready to stop, the partnership can change or dissolve depending on what everyone wants.
Limited Liability Company(LLC) – It is much cheaper to start an LLC than a corporation and it still gives you plenty of the same benefits. If you have a business that has plenty of risks, you may start San LLC to protect your assets. You can control your business, the way you want. Many believe that having an LLC behind your business name can make your business more official. People are more likely to work with you because your business looks more serious.
Find Some Great Partners
It makes a great value add for the customer making the booking, and the business involved gets their product in front of a large market. As travels fast in the industry, your travel partners will refer clients to your business once you have earned their trust. In return, you will do the same for them. You need to realise what type of tourism business you want to operate and what your objectives are for setting up the right partnership.
Your travel partner network needs to be a good fit for your business, and have values that align with your own. For the active participation of all parties within your travel partner network to continue, each must see some direct benefits from the relationship. You never want to end up in a situation where one is doing all the work and another enjoys the benefits.
Build Your Marketplace
Nowadays people travel a lot around this world to see the unseen and to know the unknown. As a marketplace owner, you work as a middleman and your marketplace brings lower costs to the customers by letting them purchase directly from the sellers. Travel and tourism startups can only function if they are aware of their marketplace. It is natural to think that the marketplace can get thousands of users. It is the main task of a successful marketplace to facilitate communication between the suppliers and the customers. Understanding the trends that are out there, can allow marketplace owners to decide the best tools and tactics to use for that the company’s objectives.
Adapt to Your Target Market
To develop a successful marketing technique you need to define your target audience. This is important for new businesses looking to establish their presence within the market. Analyzing the market is also about researching competitors to-be. Look out for other travel agencies, who their audience are and how they are managing them. Different regions and different suppliers may have varying profit margins. First, you have to know the situation on the market, what deals are presented, and how you are being ranked compared to your competitor travel agencies.
Travellers of all age groups are using social media networks where they talk about travel products, share experiences, or express their preferences. Use images, videos, questions, or statuses to promote and motivate potential clients to follow you.
Suggesting additional products on top of a standard package is the most straightforward method of increasing your revenue per customer. Explore and test to find out what your customers want, and use travel agency software to easily track and manage special offers and complementary products.
Combine different products into a unique travel experience. Create a package and try to offer a better price by setting a hotel, flight, and activity together.
One way to be a successful travel company is to establish your business in a niche market. The travel niche doesn’t need to be complicated or rare – but the more unique it is, the better. Niche travel means you are selling something that no one else sells, and that your product is different in some way.
The internet has changed every aspect of life and it has also affected how travellers book trips and how agencies can sell packages. Your customers can book 24/7 because the system receives and processes the reservations automatically.
A good way to stay ahead of your competitors is by offering the best possible prices on a worldwide range of high-quality travel plans.
Promote your business in Social media, when it comes to travelling, social media is the best option. Apart from that digital marketing strategies can also help you in achieving your goal.
Conclusion
While starting your travelling agency, you need to understand what can set your business apart from other travel agencies, and what you can offer that others cannot offer to the clients. If you are still in the planning stage of starting your travel agency, you need to keep in mind and follow all these steps. As everything is opening up once again after a big break because of Covid-19, the travel industry is once again back in action.
FAQs
Is tourism a big industry in India?
Travel and tourism is one of the biggest industries in India.
How much does the travel industry contribute to the Indian economy?
The tourism industry contributes over $247 billion to the Indian economy.
Which are the most popular travel agencies in India?
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Road trips have a different charm altogether. Stopping by to click photos, trying local food on the way, and those endless chit-chats—what could be more endearing? The experience gets even better and hassle-free when there is proper guidance for making the most of one’s trip: what to see on the way, where to refuel, where the nearest viewpoint is, etc.
ScoutMyTrip, a Mumbai-based startup, is doing exactly this. The startup plans the nitty-gritty details of your road trip to make it a cherishable experience. Here’s all you need to know about ScoutMyTrip, its founders and team, startup story, business and revenue model, funding and investors, name, logo,, competitors, advisors, challenges, future plans, and more.
It is a road trip planner which conflates human intelligence with artificial intelligence to help plan the perfect road trip for individuals. ScoutMyTrip works for all sorts of outings, from short weekend travels to long excursions.
With artificial intelligence, customers can create an itinerary containing the information necessary for their road trip—gas stations, toilets, restaurants, hotels to stay in, and points of interest. The human intelligence aspect brings in the ability to personalize the information as per one’s needs.
ScoutMyTrip envisions making road trips the preferred means of vacation.
An industry first product has been introduced where a Scout (travel expert for the specific region) is virtually assisting the customer throughout the journey (before and during the trip). The Scouts give you the regional flavor and make one’s holiday joyous. We call this ‘Mark and Embark’! Our team is hard at work in building great tech and striving for customer delight each time.
ScoutMyTrip – Industry Details
As far as the market is concerned, the road-tripping industry is a subset of a much larger travel domain.
“Our total addressable market is pegged at $6.6B with 33 million leisure road trips in one calendar year. This is growing at a very fast rate and we expect it to double in 3 years time. Globally, this market stands at $100B which is really what we are after; but we want to establish ourselves well in the subcontinent which is why we have started operations in Nepal and Bhutan as well” says Vineet.
ScoutMyTrip – Founders And Team
Deepak Ananth and Vineet Rajan are the founders of ScoutMyTrip.
Deepak Ananth is the CEO and Co-founder of ScoutMyTrip. He is an Electronics graduate and had been in the corporate space for a really long time, his last assignment being with Verifone as a Director for South-East Asia. Ananth is also known as a storyteller, who loves to travel and sip on fine scotch and old monk. Ananth has a Royal Enfield 500cc bike, and his favorite trip is from Mumbai to Shillong and back.
Vineet Rajan
Vineet Rajan was the Co-founder and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of ScoutMyTrip. Vineet is a Computer Science graduate and has an MBA. Vineet has been involved with various startups throughout his career, and currently works as a Marketing Leader at SAP. After leaving ScoutMyTrip in April 2021 as an Advisor, Rajan joined Shop101 as the Head of Marketing Communications & Organic Growth. Vineet left the Co-founder position of the company in June 2020 and then remained an Advisor for the company before stepping down from that too.
Deepak and Vineet met each other during a road trip organized by a bikers’ club they were part of. They also held official positions in one of the most sought-after Royal Enfield groups. This gave them a chance to collaborate in non-professional capacities. Their thoughts resonated since both wanted to do something unique in the domain of road trips, thus deliberating over possible ideas in 2015.
In terms of workload, Deepak has been responsible for the overall strategy and public relations while Vineet looked into the marketing and sales segment. Soumen Bhowmick serves as the Head of Business Development.
Neeraj Sinha was the CTO and used to manage everything to do with tech. Neeraj Sinha worked at a prestigious company, with excellent remuneration and an experience worth mentioning, but he left all of it just because of his love for travelling, which was fulfilled when he joined ScoutMyTrip after working for around 14 years with the same organisation. Though his father was in the Railways, he had seen the real struggle, as per several interviews, where he stated that his father was left with hardly any money in the middle of the month. This was what drove him away from the government sector jobs, thereby placing him in the private sector. Neeraj started with some odd jobs like that of the EDP Operator but he eventually pursued an MCA degree from IGNOU, and then he never looked back. Sinha soon joined Sopra Steria, then known as Xansa, as a Software Engineer in 2002.
In 2015, we had started talking about putting our collective experience of road tripping so many kilometers into a tech product which can help other travelers. So a ‘road trip’ called ScoutMyTrip began! Building a work drives us – and that is the common area of interest for us. Our team sticks with us; because of the independence we give them in their working style. We measure results; and not the means.
ScoutMyTrip – Startup Story | How It Began?
Both Deepak and Vineet happen to be road trip aficionados. It was this love which inspired them to conceive ScoutMyTrip with a view to guide road-trippers on making the most out of leisurely travels.
We picked this idea because both of us love road trips. Having road tripped on the iconic Royal Enfield bikes in India with over 600,000 kilometers between us; we decided to build a solution that will help people road trip better. Because not everyone will have the knowledge of roads as we would do.
While maps have been the traditional go-to for navigational requirements, ScoutMyTrip is building a new category in road trip planning. The ideation process for ScoutMyTrip started back in late 2015.
ScoutMyTrip has been designed after taking suggestions from men and women consumed by wanderlust (not limited to bikers) and scouts to make the product more customer-centric. The product’s features are the results of the feedback from more than 500 fellow travelers and Scouts. The ScoutMyTrip team carried out a survey involving over 1000 people (including individuals not too inclined towards travelling) to cover every possible scenario. This is imperative given the dynamics of the decision-making process when it comes to travelling. The team also reached out to members of various travel clubs in India. The intimate discussions with these travel communities have been pivotal in onboarding travel experts for helping others.
Some of the first people we spoke to about ScoutMyTrip were all kicked. From investors, the biking community, travel forums and everyone around. We did, however, get a sense that we would have to establish ourselves very quickly; and hence we started seed funded the company in 2016.
Since the startup emphasized having seasoned travelers help plan trips, it wanted to have the essence of a ‘guide’ in its name. After much consideration, the name ScoutMyTrip was finalized for it captured this essence through ‘Scout’.
ScoutMyTrip Logo
The Logo shows an inverted magnifying glass and signifies a bird pecking when seen straight (birds usually symbolize freedom). The road in the center is symbolic of travelling. The three colors represent the brand’s values—community, safety and fun.
A lot of thought has gone into the logo. A good friend Kirtee understood our requirements and came up with that effective logo. We still sometimes joke about how much we troubled her for the logo but wherever we go, we get great feedback on the logo and that is always music to the ears of any founder.
ScoutMyTrip is a freemium product. Customer can sign up for free on the website and can plan their road trips using the planner for a lifetime. The planner allows the user to add 25-way points (Google allows you just 10) on their route. It suggests places to stay and eat, gas stations, and things to do—all under one platform.
Customers can choose to pay a premium in case they would like assistance with their planning. They are then assigned Scouts who help not just in building itineraries but also by providing virtual assistance throughout the trip.
ScoutMyTrip from the beginning has followed a very community-centric approach. Be it a community of travelers or that of Scouts. It’s always about the people with technology which revolves around it. Scouts are the key differentiator for us. We’re a marketplace of travel experts who curate the best on the road experiences.
ScoutMyTrip has partnered with travel experts and individuals from different parts of India. These skilled individuals know the local haunts, have adequate knowledge about different places to visit and are the best people to reach out to for a well-planned road trip. ScoutMyTrip has a reach all over India and also services Indian travelers visiting Nepal and Bhutan.
The company has scaled quite a few times – from being just another travel agency to doing marketing campaigns for travel brands and now fully focusing on helping people plan awesome road trips.
Itinerary Created by ScoutMyTrip
ScoutMyTrip – Revenue Model
ScoutMyTrip has a well-planned revenue model and earns revenue from the following sources:
Hiring a Scout: When a traveler contacts an expert (Scout), ScoutMyTrip earns a percentage of the planning fee. The rates vary from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 9000 and can go up to Rs. 50,000 for custom trips and itineraries.
Platform integrations: The planner can be integrated with other travel websites for a wholesome user experience.
Corporate tie-ups and group tours: ScoutMyTrip has been successfully doing this for more than a year now and has organized over 500 group road trips for individuals and corporate houses.
Road trip packages: Once the trips are planned, the ScoutMyTrip Experience team bundles the following as part of the package:
ScoutMyTrip raised seed funding from Z Nation Lab in April 2017.
Funding Date
Funding Stage
Funding Amount
Investors
April 2017
Angel Round
Undisclosed
Z Nation Lab
ScoutMyTrip – User Acquisition
ScoutMyTrip was launched for insider access or closed beta in October 2016. It got its first 5000 signups in one month and there has been no looking back ever since. ScoutMyTrip had incidentally launched its blog much before the website came into existence. This allowed the company to build communication with its target customers. Through its blogs, the team was able to expound the vision for its product to an eagerly awaiting consumer base.
Content marketing has been a driver for ScoutMyTrip. The company has approximately 90 % of its users coming through social media platforms powered by influencers already a part of the ScoutMyTrip community. Word of mouth publicity also has been a good contributor for ScoutMyTrip with around 10% of user acquisition from this stream.
The majority of spending by ScoutMyTrip in the marketing space are on Facebook and Instagram advertising. A lot more time is vested on SEO and building great content which markets itself.
ScoutMyTrip takes pride in being a content-driven brand and has taken ownership of three intellectual properties to keep in touch with its focus group—the travel enthusiasts.
The Great Indian Food Trip: The Great Indian Food Trip is an exploratory drive-by ScoutMyTrip through the hinterlands of India for rediscovering some of the most iconic and largely lost gems of Indian cuisine.
The Highest Blogger Meet: The idea here is to take influential bloggers from different walks of life to the highest motorable roads in the world. On those roads, ScoutMyTrip hosts a blogger meet, setting a record in terms of altitude each time. The last successful attempt was at Khardung La in partnership with OYO Rooms.
#AageSeRight: A viral sensation on Instagram that is common amongst road trippers. AageSeRight is a Hindi phrase used as a response when asking for directions; ScoutMyTrip was able to create a medium of brand recall through this hashtag.
Deepak and Vineet had the most modest upbringing, belonging to middle-class Indian families. Deepak had been working in corporate roles (at senior positions in reputed companies) for over 20 years before ScoutMyTrip. Vineet had an entrepreneurial mindset throughout his career but his only brush was by being a member of an established startup. As a result, launching a startup was no less than a challenge due to lack of prior experience as told by Vineet.
Whether such a platform would find a place and apprehensions about them treading the right path plagued the founders in the initial phase.
Our families were very supportive. Parents who heard us out asked the right questions and then wholeheartedly supported us, spouses who stood by us, ready to fight the same battles along with us, helped to make our minds up, much easier.
ScoutMyTrip – Competitors
As Vineet says, the biggest competitors are the airlines and railways, which make up for over 80% of all travel spends in India. Google Maps is a formidable opponent given its reach and popularity when it comes to navigation.
Globally, ScoutMyTrip faces resistance from Road Trippers and Furkot, which are slowly building their presence in India. Desi competitors include Easy Roads and Highway Delite. However, the highly experienced Scouts associated with ScoutMyTrip are its USP and the major differentiator from its competitors.
We are different in terms of us being a very community driven space where our Scouts are the USP to ScoutMyTrip. We encourage road trips for everyone and plan it keeping in mind the likes of our customers.
ScoutMyTrip – Advisors And Mentors
ScoutMyTrip’s investor, Z Nation Labs, is also its primary mentor.
We get great support, industry connects and advice from the leadership team of Z Nation labs which includes Amit Jain, Anup Mehta and Neha Jain.
After being incubated by NASSCOM’s 10,000 Startups initiative and the Maharashtra State Innovation Society, ScoutMyTrip is getting regular support from its team as well.
ScoutMyTrip – Awards
ScoutMyTrip has had its fair share of recognition including the recent incubation by NASSCOM’s 10,000 startups initiative. The honors bestowed on ScoutMyTrip in 2019 are:
April 2019 – Selected as one of the Top Startups by NASSCOM as part of the 10,000 Startups Program.
March 2019 – Recognized by Startup India / DIPP.
February 2019 –Winners of the Maharashtra Startup Week by the Govt. of Maharashtra.
January 2019 – Entrepreneur India listed ScoutMyTrip as the top 50 startups to watch out for in 2019.
July 2019 – ScoutMyTrip won the Conquest 2019 startup challenge by BITS Pilani which opened new doors in terms of partnerships and investor connections.
August 2019 – ScoutMyTrip was invited by DIGITARAYA x tiket.com accelerator programme for expansion into SE Asia.
ScoutMyTrip Founders Receiving Award at Maharashtra Startup Week
Earlier Awards include being chosen as one of the top 20 travel tech startups by FICCI in 2017, Top 10 startups in India (Silicon India), and many more.
ScoutMyTrip – Future Plans
ScoutMyTrip has received a positive response from the traveler community; it has partnered with reputed brands to maintain the flow. Over the last two years, ScoutMyTrip has been aggressively improving its Scout and agent network to service the ever-increasing customer requirements. The company’s business partners include Treebo Hotels, OYO, Agoda, Booking.com, MyChoize self-drive cars, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Honda Cars India to name a few.
Over the next 1-2 years, ScoutMytrip is looking at consolidating the Indian market where there is a churn in the making as observed by its team.
For its long-term vision, ScoutMyTrip aspires to be present in every aspect of a road trip. The ScoutMyTrip team has christened this plan as ‘Dashboard to Dhabha’, where the idea is to integrate ScoutMyTrip into cars to make it easier for car owners to conceive a journey. This comprises showing recommendations of other roadtrippers, real and live assistance from Scouts all over the country, detours to explore the countryside, and other provisions. This shall enable ScoutMyTrip to create an extensive database which would then be used to provide up to date, real-time information in assisting holidaymakers.
After spending a week in Indonesia understanding the travel and tourism industry, the co-founders are considering expansion into a new market next year. They are in discussions with partners to venture into the SE Asian markets and provide a full suite of services not limited to hotels, flights, and last mile connectivity for trips.
It is hard to navigate through the maze and there is a long way before we as a country make it simpler for startups. And advice is not easy to come by, we had to learn a lot of it ourselves- Vineet Raja
Deepak Ananth and Vineet Rajan were the founders of ScoutMyTrip. Rajan left the company in 2021.
What is ScoutMyTrip?
It is an Indias trip planner, which conflates human intelligence with artificial intelligence to help plan the perfect road trip for individuals. ScoutMyTrip works for all sorts of outings, from short weekend travels to long excursions.
What is ScoutMyTrip Business Model?
ScoutMyTrip is a freemium product. Here, the customers can sign up for free on the website and can plan their road trips using the planner for a lifetime. The planner allows the user to add 25-way points (Google allows you just 10) on their route. It suggests places to stay and eat, gas stations, and things to do—all under one platform.
A traveller, a tourist and a first-time backpacker. These three have something in common despite their differences in experience. They all want a peaceful night to stay after having a long walk to someone’s dream place or to a normal visit or a trip. The business of giving people home or a place to stay dates back to AD 707.
The hospitality business is one of the indestructible industries wherein famous chains have generations of families leading, in particular, the empire built by people through hospitality. Hotels are the face of this industry. There are buildings that provide people with a place to stay with the utmost comfort. They make people feel cosy in corners not owned by them, yet have rights over them.
Thehotel industry was once owned by the owners with no regulatory bodies on the top of their heads. They had their own business model. But the new generation turned the system into a marketplace that involved filters of the various layers. The whole system was immediately converted into a well-oiled machine. A new system that sided with the huge Indian population.
This huge system turnover was brought by a 22-year-old Indian Boy named Ritesh Agarwal.
The Tourism and Hotel Industry in India is one of the main drivers of growth among the services sector of the country. The tourism industry in India has significant potential as it has rich & diverse culture, historical heritage, a vast range of ecology, and flora and fauna. Indian is known for its geographical diversity, attractive beaches throughout the coastline, 27 world heritage sites, 10 biogeographic zones, 80 national parks and more than 441 sanctuaries.
According to reports, over 39 million jobs were created in the tourism sector which equates to over 8% of the total employment in India. By 2029, the country’s tourism sector is expected to grow 6.7% to reach $488 billion, which will account for 9.2% of the country total economy. The industry has slowed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, as the country had many lockdowns and restrictions on travel.
As per the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), the Indian hotel industry had a loss of approximately $17.82 billion in revenue due to the ongoing pandemic. Despite taking a hit, the industry is looking to come back up with the help of schemes and opportunities provided by the government. The Indian Government is providing free loans to the MSMEs to help them deal with the crisis and revive the tourism sector.
It is also planning to tap into a staycation, which is an emerging trend where people stay at luxurious hotels to revive themselves of stress in a peaceful getaway. With many upcoming developments, the international tourist arrivals are expected to reach 30.5 billion and generate revenue of over $59 billion by 2028. OYO and Airbnb have in many ways helped the industry grow especially in 2020 and 2021, as domestic tourists are expected to drive the growth post-pandemic.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Experience in Industry
Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO of OYO Rooms
When it comes to trust, experienced companies are trusted more.
Ritesh Agarwal, the founder of OYO, formed the most famous chain of leased and franchised hotel chains. We Indians often refer to it as a place to look for the best deals for hotels, The Oyo Rooms. Oyo Rooms started 7 years ago with a bunch of hotels. The company has now expanded globally with thousands of hotels and vacation homes. Oyo Rooms was started in the year 2013.
Ritesh is the second youngest self-made billionaire in the world.
Airbnb’s Founders
Airbnb was conceived years ago by two roommates who rented out an air mattress in their living room. This turned their whole apartment into a bed and breakfast. This was done to sustain the high-priced living in San Francisco. This gave the company its name Airbedandbreakfast. Airbnb was started in 2008.
So the winner here is, Airbnb, which has a lot of experience.
Both the companies share a common goal, i.e. to provide accommodations, a safe place and comfortable corners to people. Yet both the companies have a very different working business model.
Oyo is often believed to be India’s answer to Airbnb. This article will take you through the different business models and things that are uncommon between the two companies.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Front-end
OYO Rooms
OYO, as people know, is a website where one can go through various filters and find a hotel. But this is the front-end of how the Oyo company is. Oyo is a marketplace for only hotels.
Airbnb
However, Airbnb is a marketplace that helps a traveller find an abode of his type. It can be for lodging, primarily homestays and homestays. It also lets the provider of the property fix a price. This helps both sides as well as Airbnb. The company has recently started offering experiences too.
This shows a more varied and real-world applied concept. So, Airbnb has a better front-end.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Places to Stay
OYO Online Booking
Oyo used to get hotels and book a majority of the rooms for a definite time. It then standardizes the room according to the Oyo standards. Later, list the hotels on its website with huge and heavy discounts. The whole business model used to work by acquiring clusters of hotels for a definite time. Standardizing them and making them proper before listing.
Airbnb Online Booking
Airbnb is based on the sharing economy. It makes owners share the property or rooms they own with travellers who in turn share money with the owners. It is believed to be the most successful business that works on sharing economy. A two-faced system that works for the public.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Stay Duration
Oyo works on hotel stays, so an individual can stay there for a good amount of time. Oyo rooms have no particular rule about leaving a room after a set date. The whole system is similar to how one can stay in a hotel. But in Airbnb, there is a 90-day rule. This rule was introduced in 2017. This rule is only for areas in London. The listings in that area cannot be occupied for more than 90 days.
This makes Airbnb not suitable for very long.
Oyo had 5,855 hotels in its network in the year 2016 with an inventory of over 68 thousand rooms. If compared to today it has a portfolio of more than 35 thousand hotels and 125 thousand vacation homes. It has over 1.2 million rooms across 80 countries and 800 cities.
But, the founder and CEO of Oyo – Ritesh Agarwal made an announcement in the year 2017 that the company had evolved its Oyo business model to 100% franchise, managing, or operating. He also mentioned that his company would no longer go for hotel aggregation and will shift towards becoming a proper full-scale hospitality company. The CEO stated that this change in business model will reduce operational costs. Hence, improve service.
Oyo changed its business model to the Franchise model in the year 2017. The company earlier used to take up some rooms on lease and would sell them to customers. This model involves partnering with many hotels and asking them to operate as a franchise. Then selling their rooms to all the customers at competitive prices.
Airbnb, known for not owning any of the properties. Yet known for having a business that does work on providing shelter. All the company does is providing a platform. A platform on which all the people can rent out properties they own or spare rooms to guests. The property prices are set by the owner themselves. But the company intervenes when it comes to the collection of money.
The Business model of Airbnb is a multi-sided marketplace that connects all the travellers with the host and experience providers. The company makes money from the fees that come from bookings from stays and experiences. Airbnb’s model is exponential when it comes to growth.
Airbnb has a better business model in terms of customer comfort and reach.
Airbnb’s business model is quite simple yet very innovative which often dubs it as the world’s fastest-growing travel site.
Oyo charges around 22% of commissions. This has to be paid every month by the hotels’ owners. However, commissions may vary as per the services and features offered. Oyo also charges a commission out of the room reservation fee according to their services chosen.
Airbnb makes all the money through commissions. It charges a 3% commission on every booking from hosts and between 6 – 12% from guests. Unlike Oyo, Airbnb takes reviews and feedback from both ends. Be it the host or the guest, this makes it a proper marketplace.
Airbnb seems to have an upper hand at everything, making it a proper place to visit before actually vising one.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a tool that lets a company store customer and prospect contact information. It also helps the company identify sales opportunities, record service issues, and manage marketing campaigns. Depending on what type of CRM a company has, they can get basic information about their prospective customer and interact with them. CRM helps the company in better analyzing and understanding their customers, which will help them offer better and more efficient customer service. Airbnb and OYO have very different CRM strategies.
CRM of OYO
The CRM that OYO uses is Blueshifts Programmatic CRM, which has helped the company to become a leader in 1:1 customer engagement across all marketing channels. With Blueshift’s precise recommendations and targeted triggers, OYO has been able to achieve 5X higher bookings from email and mobile channels. The company also has a mobile-first approach which has helped it to expand in over 500 cities across ten countries.
CRM of Airbnb
The CRM that Airbnb uses is Twilio, which helps connect with hosts. How it works is, when a traveller makes a reservation through Airbnb, the host has 32 hours to respond to a booking request and this is possible because of its CRM. There is systematic mobile communication between hosts and travellers using a text message. The host can also decide whether they want to accept or deny the customer. The company also uses Hootsuite social media management, which helps them monitor their follower’s growth and social CRM. The system also helps the company to find certain keywords that can eventually be used in campaigns.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Marketing Strategy
OYO – Marketing Strategy
Oyo is known to use the 360-degree marketing method as it implies having a presence on all forms of digital and traditional media. They also have their unique room strategy which helps in attracting more customers with lower room prices in comparison to the base price of the hotel. Besides that OYO has made many successful multimedia marketing campaigns such as #AurKyaChahiye. It also shares location-based posts, promotional posts, which helps people to browse destinations to travel, check for new offers & discounts and encourage them to book OYO.
Airbnb – Marketing Strategy
Airbnb on the other hand uses the marketing approach to building and maintaining a strong community among its users. It also mainly targets long term loyalty from both the guests and hosts. The main marketing strategy of the company is to take your business in front of your potential guest and turn them into bookers. The customers who previously enjoyed their stay with Airbnb places are sent an email encouraging them to list their own property. Airbnb India aims to make its guests feel welcome, its app did the same, as it has a unified interface on Android and iOS platforms.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Social Media
OYO on Social Media
Over the years the company has leveraged the power of social media as it has been able to retain its ranking and stay ahead of OYO competitors in the market. OYO currently has over 169k followers on Instagram and 65.4k followers on Twitter, with actor Sonu Sood as its current brand ambassador. On all the social media platforms, the company promotes itself as being a brand that offers two types of services which are promoting tourist spaces and a safe space to spend time with your loved ones in your own city. OYO also uploads many ad campaigns like ‘Fir Badhega India’ and ‘Sanitised Stays’ that helps in engaging with their customers especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airbnb on Social Media
Airbnb has a different approach to social media marketing as it heavily relies on awareness generating strategy. The company also uses travel influencers to further promote the platform as it does its social media relies on user-generated content (UGC). So far the company has over 4.9 million followers on Instagram and 733k followers on Twitter. It also has over 6.3 million photos using #airbnb on Instagram which shows us how widespread the company is. Airbnb also heavily invests in video marketing as a part of telling its brand story, it currently has more than 500 videos generating over 100 million views on YouTube.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, Airbnb and Oyo share the same kind of services, i.e. hospitality service. Moreover, Airbnb is a website for people to list, find and rent lodging whereas Oyo is a chain of budget and premium rooms partnering with different hotels. Oyo is all about providing a customer experience within a stipulated budget range while Airbnb doesn’t control the customer experience as such.
FAQs
What is the difference between Airbnb and Oyo?
OYO has more hotel rooms whereas Airbnb has more residential plots. In Airbnb, the apartment may have been misinterpreted, not so in the case of OYO as an audit is done every week.
Are OYO Rooms similar to Airbnb?
OYO’s business model is kind of similar to that of Airbnb, i.e. they are an online aggregator of budget hotels. Bookings for these rooms would be made via the website and the mobile app of OYO Rooms. However, the main focus is always is the quality of service provided.
How to give your property to OYO Rooms?
For OYO Rooms registration, you can write an email to partner@oyorooms.com or give a call to this number +91 70530 70530.
Is OYO successful?
OYO Rooms has been one of the most successful startups in India being the country’s largest budget hotel chain. It focuses on standardizing the hotels in the non-branded hospitality sector.
Is Airbnb better than Oyo?
OYO is better in terms of privacy and security. OYO assures quality service while Airbnb doesn’t guarantee anything from their end.
“It will be much more about responsible travel now. We are going to value our freedom a lot more” – Deep Kalra, Founder of MakeMyTrip on impact of Covid on travel industry
The travel and tourism industry is one of the largest industries in India, it’s a major driver of economic growth globally. India’s tourism industry is experiencing a good period of growth, driven by the flourishing Indian middle class, growth in high spending foreign tourists and coordinated government campaigns to promote ‘Incredible India’. But Due to restrictions linked to Covid-19, the number of foreign tourist in India during 2021 decreased to 1.52 million compared to 2.74 million in 2020, dropping by 44.5%, though foreign exchange earnings grew during the same period, as per the India Tourism Statistics 2022 report. In 2019, India saw 10.93 million foreign tourist arrivals, which dropped by 75% in 2020.
In 2021, the travel and tourism industry in India contributed around 178 billion U.S. dollars to the country’s GDP. Just a few days ago the Indian government has said that the country’s tourism sector will recover to the pre-pandemic level by mid-2024 , they also said that by 2030, the tourism sector will contribute $250 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).According to the recent India Travel Market Report by Phocuswright, the total Indian travel market stood at US$19.1 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $40.4 billion in 2025, with online penetration reaching 58% in 2025.
The booming IT and outsourcing industry has led to a growing number of business trips made by foreigners to India. After Covid, along with work from home, a new trend has come, i.e., workcation for which travel companies are coming up with very good offers and packages. These plans comprise elegant and peaceful places to work with sightseeing and event sports in the evening. These packages are varied and diverse.
From choosing destinations to connecting with locals and customizing the holiday, the travel startup business in India is looking to add a new dimension to the ever-evolving traveling story.
Here is the list of successful tour and travel startups.
Best Travel and Tourism Startup in India – MakeMyTrip
MakeMyTrip is one of the oldest travel startup in India . The inspiration for this startup came to Kalra when he was booking a holiday to Thailand. He realized that the internet could offer more competitive prices by cutting out the middleman. MakeMyTrip’s mission is to provide customers a one-stop-shop for all their travel needs by providing online travel services that include flight tickets, domestic and international holiday packages, hotel reservations, rail and bus tickets.
ClearTrip
Founders
Stuart Crighton; Matthew Spacie; Hrush Bhatt
Founded In
2016
Headquarters
Mumbai
Top Travel Startup – Cleartrip
Cleartrip, headquartered in Mumbai, was founded by Stuart Crighton, Hrush Bhatt in the year 2005. The company operates an online travel aggregator website for booking flights and train tickets, hotel reservations, and activities in India and the Middle East countries. Cleartrip is one of the few business travel startups in India. It has offices across India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Cleartrip is another travel tech company in India, started its services to the Persian Gulf nations of Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt. On June 21, 2018, Cleartrip announced the acquisition of Saudi Arabia-based online travel aggregator (OTA) Flyin.
Clear trip also operates –
Cleartrip for Business, an online corporate travel management tool. It is a business travel solution for companies
Agent Box, a travel tool for travel agents.
Cleartrip Mobile, a travel booking app for consumers.
Expressway, to let users store traveller profile and payment details securely to make one-click bookings.
Flexifly, a solution that enables flyers to change their travel date and time and switch flights between airlines without any hefty penalties.
Within few years goibibo became a big payer in travel industry. Goibibo acquired redBus in 2013 to enhance its product offering. The 2016 merger of MMT and Goibibo gave MMT depth of content and an access to a bigger consumer base. It’s core value differentiator is the most trusted user experience, be it in terms of quickest search and booking, fastest payments, settlement or refund processes. Along with the usual services travel startups provide, Goibibobecame the no 1 travel startup to introduce real travel booking currency named as Go Cash which can be used without any restrictions or limits of use.
In small towns, this start up company has built up good trust and about 48% of new users are associated with tier 2 and tier 3 cities, it has seen a 65% increase in transacting users since January this year and that it has been ‘successful’ in consolidating its position as the ‘second largest’ OTA brand in the country.
It is the largest hospitality startup from the list of top hospitality startups in India comprising budget hotels. It is usually one of the first names that pop up in people’s minds when they think of cost efficient hotel bookings in India. The startup works in liaison with existing hotels and offers travellers vacant rooms at a cheaper price. OYO Rooms start at a nominal price of Rs. 999. Besides bulk renting hotels, they have also invested in their own properties as well. Click here to know how exactly OYO Rooms work.
The users can also opt for OYO Premium which provides a more-than-basic experience. OYO Rooms are located in the prime areas of the city and therefore they ensure travellers of having the best experience, it is also close to the best sight-seeing destinations and various dining options. The startup also raised an investment of $90 million from Softbank earlier in 2016. In 2019, OYO raised $1.5 Billion in Series F funding led by SoftBank Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Sequoia India.
Travel and Tourism Startup in India – Pickyourtrail
Hari Ganapathy and Srinath Shankar got the idea of the startup after their experience from a self-planned trip to Europe in 2012. This platform uses deep tech to let travellers create, customize and book international vacations. Pickyourtrail considers more than 40 factors like duration, travel time, ratings, etc to build personalized itineraries that travellers can further customize & book.
After the trip is booked, travellers can use Pickyourtrail’s app to keep track of bookings and get real-time information on flight and weather updates, restaurant recommendations, and on-trip chat support.
Their goal is to perform best in the tour and travel business when it comes to international trips.
Best Travel and Tourism Startup in India – SCOUT MY TRIP
ScoutMyTrip is a road trip planner ,It works for all sorts of outings, from short weekend travels to long excursions.
The motive that the duo has been able to solve through their startup is to collate information that is currently very diversified. Basically it is an information portal that makes travel easy and accessible for anyone. The company plans to connect travellers with people who want to travel on any particular vehicle. It will also facilitate customised tour packages.
With artificial intelligence, customers can create an itinerary containing the information necessary for their road trip—gas stations, toilets, restaurants, hotels to stay, and points of interest. The human intelligence aspect brings in the ability to personalize information as per one’s needs.
The corporate outdoor and experiential learning model adopted by Thrillophilia in its early days, has proven to be of great significance since it was fairly new concept in India.
Thrillophilia provides you with handpicked adventure travel options. It is best suited for travellers seeking an off-the-beaten-track package for sightseeing, sports, and adventurous activities like water rafting, snorkelling, bungee jumping, and skydiving. The travellers can also curate the best tours and authentic suppliers.
Travel Triangle operates their services with a versatile team of 450+ people. Travel Triangle is operating as an online marketplace model bringing both travellers and trusted & expert travel agents on a common platform. Travel Triangle is a SaaS-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform to help them manage and analyse customer interactions and data.
goMowgli
Founders
Anil Alur and Sunil Abhilash
Founded In
2013
Headquarters
Mysuru, Karnataka
Top travel and tourism Startup – goMowgli
goMowgli is a travel startup that had its name inspired by the fictional character we all loved growing up –Mowgli from Jungle Book. It has a fleet of buses across different states (using the concept of “hop-off buses”) and the travellers can buy a pass for a fixed number of days – a week or two. It is suitable for solo travellers and backpackers who want to travel without a fixed plan or do not want to get in trouble of booking cabs while traveling the city.
goMowgli claims to be India’s first flexible bus network for travellers. Flexible bus network mean is you can catch the bus anytime you want from any place in their network, and get off anytime, at any place.
goMowgli will tell you the exact location of the nearest bus when you switch on the GPS feature on your smartphone. The app is growing in popularity very fast. At present, their revenue generation is basically based on the passes they sell (Rs. 1700/day) . And their marketing is mainly based on social media and word of mouth.
Tripoto is a Delhi-based startup founded by Anirudh Gupta and Michael Lyngdoh and one of the best travel startups in India. It allows users to create itineraries for their future trips that they can also share with other travelers.They can share their travel experiences, related content and pictures, itineraries, maps, stories, and reviews.
The startup has one of the largest communities of travellers in the world where people get a chance to share their travel experiences, discover unique trips and travel itineraries by other travelers and connect with them around the world through the website. Tripoto’s aim is to become the largest source of crowd-sourced travel content platforms in the world by enabling users to share their credible travel information.
ExTravelMoney
Founder
George Zachariah
Founded In
2015
Headquarters
Kochi, Kerala
Travel Startup in India – ExTravel Money
ExTravelMoney is an online aggregator and marketplace for forex services that bring the hyperlocal eCommerce model to foreign exchange business and is helping users save money on currency exchange and money transfer from and to abroad. Users can use this platform to search for banks and money changers near them who offer these forex services. They can also compare the exchange rates and total cost of a forex service including the services fees, tax charges, even the rating of each forex store they are searching for.
The users can therefore make an informed decision based on this knowledge and book the cheapest and the best forex services near them directly from their app ExTravelMoney. If you are traveling in a foreign country, foreign exchange is an important component to plan. It isn’t easy to purchase forex due to the time and the hassle it takes in finding the best exchange rates. The website provides travelers with forex dealers across the country to bring them the best available exchange rate in the market and all they need to do is log in to their website, state their forex requirement, and then it connects you to the nearest forex dealer.
Nearify is an app founded by Mayank Kumar, Saurav Singh and Vivek Srivastava in 2012 that provides users with updated information on events that are happening around them. Like information on the city, major tourist attractions, and fairs & festivals happening in the area. All the user needs to do is to key in the name of the city to find listings of meet-ups, workshops, music concerts, and cultural hangout places in their close proximity.
It is best suited for travelers who want to know what’s happening in other locations of the place they are traveling to and wish to plan their itinerary and also don’t want to miss out on the social events happening in nearby cities or locations.
TripHobo
Founders
Praveen Kumar, Saket Newaskar, and Karthik Ramachandra
Founded In
2012
Headquarters
Pune, Maharashtra
Travel Planning Startup – TripHobo
TripHobo is a Pune-based travel startup that has an innovative new travel platform where the collective effort of their dedicated team of travel enthusiasts. They are trying to transform its user’s travel experience by making travel more sharable and personally tailored. The platform lets you connect with travel buddies around the world and hence makes your experience even richer and memorable.
TripHobo is a vacation planning website that is also the world’s leading vacation planning platform on which you can plan trips to about 150,000 destinations worldwide. It lets users discover great itineraries created by travellers just like them.
iTraveller
Founders
Shiju Radhakrishnan and Sanjay Kumar
Founded In
2011
Headquarters
Banglore
Top Travel Startups – iTraveller
It’s an online travel platform for travellers to explore travel destinations, plan and book their trips in advance. It allows users to dynamically create self-serviced customized travel packages after receiving inquiries from clients.
The users can also compare reviews and plan their activities and sightseeing for their trips, it also involves native wholesale suppliers who are responsible for the operational aspects of the business of your trip that includes ground handling and fulfillment. iTraveller has created more than 2 lakh trips featuring over 20 travel destinations across the globe and more than 60 native wholesale suppliers from across these destinations. The brand of iTraveller is now changed to Lastminute.
SeekSherpa
Founders
Sukhmani Singh and Dhruv Raj Gupta
Founded In
2014
Headquarters
Delhi
Top Travel and Tourism Startup in India – Seek Sherpa
The mobile marketplace connects travellers with the local people in the city you are traveling to. These people are called “Sherpas” and are chosen after a thorough background check and verified authenticity. They offer numerous itineraries, popularly known as “micro tours”, from sightseeing, photography tours, and heritage walks and food walks to explore a location from the eyes of a local guide – Sherpa.
Sherpas can be from any profession and list experiences that will cost you less than Rs. 3,000 per participant. This is a unique feature that SeekSherpa offers, it helps you in traveling better by interacting with the residents of the place you are seeking to explore. This way, your trip is better, well experienced, and more memorable.
SOTC
Founder
Mr. Vishal Suri (Managing Director)
Founded In
1949
Headquarters
Mumbai, India
Top travel and Tourism Startup in India – SOTC
SOTC India is a leading travel and tourism company active across various travel segments including Leisure Travel, Incentive Travel and Business Travel. It is one of the leaders in segments, namely Escorted Group Tours, Customized Holidays, and Incentive Travel amongst others. SOTC offers customized holidays around the world, Corporate Tours and provides packages for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) related travel needs.
Conclusion
Travelling is one of the most exciting and important parts of our life. It teaches us a lot. These startups in the tourism industry in India are helping us to make our journey better, safer, and easier. If we have missed out on any travel startup in India, do let us know in the comments.
FAQs on Travel Startups in India
How to start a travel business in India or how to start a travel company in India?
Best tips to start a travel business in India or a travel company in India:
Step 1: Prepare a plan for your travel business.
Step 2: Brand your travel business along with dealing in legal formalities.
Step 3: Manage your funding strategy.
Step 4: Pick a great location and hire employees.
How to start an online travel agency in India?
The list of requirements to start an online travel agency in India:
Make a thorough research on your competitors and the market.
Find your own niche in the travel industry.
Build your team.
Take a call on a travel website or a travel software, or both.
Business travel is a term used to indicate travel that is carried out for doing business with someone else. It includes traveling to another branch of the company, traveling to another location to visit business partners or suppliers, traveling for a business event or conference, etc. The business travel industry provides more than $1 trillion to the global economy. The habits of employees and their expectations related to business travel are evolving.
Let us discuss about business travel management trends. This business travel market is getting more attention from many businesses in the travel industry because the cost is borne by the employer but travelers often spend more money on their travels. According to Certify, businesses spend about 21 percent of their total business travel budget on meals and 13 percent on accommodation.
The advancement of technology and the fluctuations of the global economy have a significant effect on the travel policies of all businesses, large and small. Smartphone has changed the method of searching, booking, and paying for travel. Automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning have made it easier and faster than before for business travelers to plan and book trips.
Business travel management trends
Some important business travel management trends are given below.
1. The Internet of Things (IoT)
The IoT is the appliances, devices, and other things that can send and receive data by using internet connectivity. Smart energy meters, smart speakers, and smart televisions are examples of IoT devices common in households. The business travelers want the same from hotels. Hotel guests expect IoT devices that enable them to remotely adjust the heating or use voice commands to get information. Also, hotels can offer seamless check-ins, rooms that can be unlocked through a smartphone, and automatic payments.
The travel which combines business and leisure activities is called bleisure travel. It is primarily business-driven, but the traveler spends time to see the sights and engage in other leisure activities during their travels. Research indicates that it is growing. In fact, according to Expedia, the trips which extended for leisure purposes is more than 40 percent. According to a report by SAP Conquer, the generation who makes most bleisure travels is millennials. It contains 38 percent of the total people who take pleasure trips.
The habits of employees and their expectations related to business travel are evolving
3. Virtual reality
Virtual reality came into the mainstream in recent years. The travelers expect it to further disrupt the travel industry in the near future. According to the research of the DCC Forum, 79% of business travelers think virtual reality previews to become normal within 10 years.A business traveler is able to use virtual reality previews on the website of the hotel or other booking platforms of the hotel to gain a clearer idea of what your hotel looks like. VR tours are also suitable for showcasing the amenities such as conference or meeting rooms, so travelers will get an idea of size and layout.
4. Personalization
The airline industry is very effective in capitalizing on the personalization needs of business travelers. They realized that if these travelers are treated as individuals, they can become regular, loyal and high-value customers. This intention for personalization has spread to other sectors of the travel industry, including hotels. The hotels can utilize data from previous trips to make recommendations and adjustments based on the habits of an individual, their payment methods, services they have used, etc.
It is important to realize that business travelers are needed to travel often. It means that they want to sustain some element of their normal routine, instead of seeing travels as an excuse. So, healthy options need to be provided. Some hotels provide healthy meals in hotel restaurants and healthy snacks in hotel rooms. Also, they provide massage services, outdoor sports facilities, and a gym for doing the workout.
6. Customer experience
A large part of travel management focuses on the customer experience. It is crucial for all businesses related to the travel industry. That includes hotels, restaurants, car rental companies, and airlines. because the customer experience has become a major competitive differentiator than price and product. According to various statistics compiled by Chameleon Collective, 86% of customers are ready to pay more for better customer experience. Also, 84% of companies that gave priority to customer experience reported a growth in revenue.
Global business travel was largely halted during the epidemic. The business people are engaged in meetings through MS teams and Zoom. Covid-19 has affected a few businesses in the travel industry. These includehotels, airlines, cruise lines, resorts, rental car companies, popular tourist attractions, and conference centers. The travel industry is undergoing significant changes. These changes are aimed to prevent a deadly and invisible virus. Some of the changes that we can expect in the world of business travel are given below.
Travelers are worried to travel on planes and stay in hotel rooms due to covid-19
1. Financial fallout
There will be a significant economic downturn in the business world due to covid-19 pandemic. This epidemic has increased uncertainty and risk in the industry. There is a severe decrease in revenues across the travel sector. Numerous hotels, airlines, and travel companies cant withstand the economic effects of the epidemic. It will result in fewer opportunities for business travelers to use the resources they accessed before the covid-19.
2. Companies will implement strict policies
In large businesses with hundreds of employees traveling the world, we can expect strict company policies that enact the exact expectations and processes for employees. Handbooks, videos, training on to keep hygiene, human-to-human interaction, and packing will be revisited.
The maintenance cost of hotels and airlines be higher. Airlines should sanitize the planes every night between stops. It will increase staff costs, supply, and additional ground time. Also, the hotels should sanitize the rooms after each guest leaves. It will increase the costs and staff time to clean the room. It will result in increased pricing.
4. Reduced service
Domestic journeys are mainly through ground transportation. Governments may close borders and prohibit travel. The available airline services are decreased. The number of hotel rooms available are also decreased. Travelers are worried to travel on planes and stay in hotel rooms until safety is ensured. This will continue until developing a vaccine.
When business travel returns after the epidemic, there will be more stressful than before. If we found a vaccine or cure for covid-19, the hope is that world will slowly return to normal. Despite the desire to undo things, the world will look completely different. Business travel and surrounding industries are likely to adopt new norms. The concern of how to balance the safety, experience, and comfort of employees while traveling will remain for some time.
The world of business travel is rapidly changing and keeping up to date with its latest trends and shifts can help startup companies and small businesses alike to identify the opportunities and capitalize on it. Without further ado, here are the top ten trends in business travel you must be preparing for this year.
Top 10 Trends in Business Travel
More Startups and SMBs to Participate In International Travel
Startup companies and small and mid-size businesses are expected to become prominent players in the corporate travel sector in 2019. This is due to the increasing number of employees being employed by these companies – according to the October 2018 Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) – “small businesses continue to support the 3%+s growth of the economy and add significant numbers of new workers to the employment pool.”
As this sector thrive and flourish, we can expect that more startups and SMBs will increase their investment in business travel in order to support their growth and build relationships with like-minded companies around the world.
Sharing economy to gain traction among C-Level executives
One of the biggest trends that have shaped the business travel landscape for the past recent years is the sharing economy. Sharing economy companies such as Airbnb and Lyft have evolved from niche disruptors into a mainstream leader for both consumers and even companies with C-level business travelers. In fact, the 2018 Business Travel Ridesharing Habits Survey from Skift revealed that a whopping 90.3% of employes now allow their travelers to use ridesharing services for work.
While slower to advance, shared economy lodging options are also gaining measurable traction, especially among the younger generations. According to TripActions 2018 State of Business Travel Report, more than one-third of surveyed travelers said they book Airbnb-type accommodations, along with boutique hotels as a way to fulfill their desire for a unique travel experience.
Personalization as the most important loyalty driver in business travel
Gone were the days when companies only use earned points in flights, hotel stays and car rentals to keep their employees engage with their business travel initiatives. Nowadays, more and more travel managers are shifting their focus from earning points to providing more personalized travel experience for their road warriors.
This is according to the same 2018 survey from TripActions, which found that 21% of business travelers don’t belong to any hotel loyalty program and are less interested in loyalty programs in general. Instead, these travelers seek more hands-on experience with their business trips, with many seeking self-booking capabilities in their hotel, car rental, and flight service companies as a way to ensure they’ll receive services tailored to their business travel needs.
A Mix of Artificial Intelligence and Human Touch to Power Travel Services
Self-booking and automation are without a doubt the biggest disruptors changing the way business travelers fulfill nearly every aspect of their travel needs these days. However, more organizations now realize that while these technologies can be efficient, they can’t solve all business issues without help from a human being.
To address such conundrum, most travel managers are now seeking to achieve a balance between tech-assisted and human-focused services. One of the solutions being eyed to achieve such balance is through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-powered algorithms. Through this solution, companies will be able to make sound decisions fast about when to provide assistance and will help them prioritize the most pressing issues facing their travelers by predicting their needs.
More Travel Managers To Focus More on Comfort of Travelers
While ever-changing, the issues facing business travelers in 2019 will remain the same – canceled flights, jet lag, adapting to a foreign culture, and security and safety risks. Countering these issues, therefore, will be the utmost priority of most travel managers as they plan to revise their travel policies in order to cater for more enjoyable, healthier, and more productive trips.
Corporate Travel as a Major Employee Perk
Another new trend in business travel is the greater collaboration that is taking place between travel managers, HR managers, and recruiters.
Travel is fast becoming a perk new employees are working for – according to TripActions 2018 survey, 92% of all business travelers said they want to travel for work, 90% said they see traveling as a perk of their job, while 80% feel more excited about their job after traveling. A separate study from Hilton Hotels and Resorts also revealed that 39% of respondents would not join a company that did not offer travel as part of the job.
With these statistics, we can expect that more organizations will take advantage of this trend to attract new talents in 2019.
Bleisure As the New Norm
Mixing leisure and business travel has become a widely-adopted practice among most corporate travelers nowadays.
Recent research from Expedia revealed that on average, bleisure travelers take more than six business trips per year, and more than 60% of business trips in 2017 were extended for leisure purposes. In the U.S., the number of business travelers opting for bleisure is on par with the multi-national average of 60% – a nearly 40% increase in bleisure travel since 2016.
Interactive Solutions as Key To More Simplified Experience
According to a 2017 survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), program simplification is a strategic priority for corporate travel managers heading into 2019.
The rationale behind simplification includes the benefits that both the organization and employees can gain, including improved traveler satisfaction, reduced cost, and time savings. This growing demand for simplified travel experience is leading to more request for interactive tools which enable travelers to book, manage, customize, and monitor their trips all in one place.
Managing Cost to Continue as the Major Challenge
As the costs of airfare and hotel lodging across popular business travel destination continue to increase, we can expect that managing travel cost will remain a hard issue to tackle for most organizations in 2019. According to a recent GBTA Forecast Report, hotel prices can be expected to rise by an average of 3.7% in 2019, and flight costs will increase by 2.6%.
Face-to-Face Meeting To Become More Critical
Despite the rise of new communication platforms such as video calls that allow virtual interaction, many organizations still say face-to-face meetings will continue to play a critical part in their organization’s success. While virtual communication has significantly improved, most executives are still seeking the authentic human connection present during face-to-face meetings, as it enables them to build lasting business relationships.
In fact, according to Harvard research, face-to-face requests were 34 times more likely to garner positive results than emails. A global survey also revealed that 67% of senior executives and managers also said their organization’s productivity would increase if superiors communicated face-to-face more often.
With all these trends taking place nowadays, it is more imperative than ever for both travel managers and employees to keep an open eye on the shifts that are most likely to impact the efficiency of their business trips this year forward. Above all, startup company owners and managers should continue focusing on ensuring the safety, productivity, and comfort of their travelers each time they hit the road.
This is a guest post by Reza Choudhury who runs an international chauffeur company that helps facilities managers, travelmanagers, event managers, executives assistants, c-level executives and office managers, arrive at their destination on-time and stress-free. He does this by providing an app & online platform that allows users to schedule multiple bookings while watching chauffeur’s arrive in real-time. His passion is spending time with his family and playing table tennis.
In 2019, one challenge that took the social media world by storm is the 10 Year Challenge. Fortunately till now, this challenge hasn’t caused any kind of accidents, unlike the Kiki Challenge. Therefore, people loved this new challenge. However, it is not just fun to do this kind of challenge, but they can help in earning you some bucks as well. The trend is something that keeps the business running. If you are up-to-date with the latest technology and trends, you will never be out of your established business, but grow. So, we have come up with some ideas for you to take advantage of this trend and generate some leads.
The 10-year challenge is a very simple challenge in which you have to post your 10-year-old photo along with your latest photo. Therefore, it is also known as the “2009 vs. 2019 Challenge”.
So, basically, it’s just another way to show off your wealth and glamour. These pictures show how you have evolved in the last few years and what has changed. Many celebrities are posting their old and new photos and their fans are going crazy for this. This trend got viral and people started sharing pictures in social media related to this trend.
Origin of 10 Year Challenge
All this started when the TV meteorologist, Damon Lane posted his photo on January 11th, 2019. He compared his photo with the 2009 version of himself. However, we cannot blindly say that he is the one behind all this, but he is the first known celebrity to do it in 2019. Hence, we can say that he is the father of 2019 challenges. However, it is not the first time 10 year challenge or How Did Age Hit You Challenge or #2009vs2019 or GlowUpChallenge (Phew!) is trending. Many such picture comparing challenges have already taken place on the internet in the past. However, this time, it is booming.
How Can This Challenge Help You in Business?
As already said, a business exists if it follows the trend. So, this is another trend. If you create a good post, there is a strong possibility that it will go viral. Everyone will be searching for posts related to this challenge. And if they are potential customers, you can even generate some leads. Moreover, if your post is interesting, then bloggers will also feature them on their websites.
What Can You Do to Take Part in This Challenge?
Many entrepreneurs must be sharing their personal and financial growth in this campaign. But if you want to market your company in this campaign then post something related to your product and services. You can:
Show your service- If you provide any service which solves any problem, then share the old look and the look after your service. Bimbra 4×4, which is a car modifying company, did it great.
Show your growth- Show how better your product has become in all these years. In this way, you will be targeting your old customers. Window Developer’s tweet did it in a simple but cool way.
The same old quality- If you think you are providing the same best quality over all these years then you can do something creative. Post 2 same photos and captions something like “always like new”, or others. This will be kind of funny for your followers. Moreover, you can use this idea to show the durability of your product.
Achievements: You can show some of your company’s achievements. This is another way you can show your growth. You can show what awards you got or how you became better, or how you have evolved. This way it will show them how your product and services have better themselves.
Solving problems- Take an old picture of your customers or your product and a new one showing how you solved their problem. This will give your customers insight, into why they should buy your product.
Meme- A meme is the best content to share with everyone it can actually attract attention to your product and can be a great way of marketing. Create a meme based on your product and share it on social media, it is oneof the best ay to get viral
Customers love for your brand- Another thing you can do is share the love your customer has shown to your product as it is still in here and thriving in the industry.
A trend is the easiest and best way to go viral ofcourse it has to be interesting one. If you are reaching millions of people, then there are at least thousands of potential customers and hundreds of lead generations. #10yearchallenge is just one of the dozens of trends in 2019 that has gone viral. So, if you missed this chance, there is nothing to worry about. You just have to think creatively. Create something which everyone will like and relate to. This is one of the best marketing tools in the modern days, use it wisely.
FAQs
What is the 10 year challenge?
The 10-year challenge is a trend where individuals have to post their picture of 10 years ago and a recent one in a collage.
Who was the first person to start 10 year challenge?
TV meteorologist, Damon Lane started was the the first person to take part in this challenge.
Ria Sahni
