The Journey begins: disrupting the travel and tourism industry, one startup (or twenty) at a time

The Journey is the brand new accelerator program organised by Beta-i, aiming to disrupt travel and tourism areas.

More than a hundred startups have applied, to get the chance to show their different view of the world and change the way travellers and hosts live tourism. The main challenges The Journey is focusing on on how to make tourism more sustainable, while enhancing the customer’s experience at destination and optimise the business.

The top 20 doesn’t seem to disappoint and the first phase of the program is starting today, June 26, with a week bootcamp. Check who they are:

Airbot Technology (Portugal)

Airbot Technology is a software-as-a-service platform that allows airports and airlines to communicate efficiently with passengers through messaging applications.

Busrapido.com (Italy)

An online booking platform where you can book buses, minibuses and vans with driver for group trips. With Busrapido.com it’s also possible to instantly compare the prices of all the different coach operators.

CorreYvuela (Spain)

Definitely innovative, CorreYvuela is selling flights through WhatsApp and other instant messaging apps via chatbot. Their vision is to be more close to the traveler during the whole journey, helping them book a hotel, a taxi or even a restaurant.

Doinn (Portugal)

An Online platform where short term rentals hosts and property managers can automatically schedule and buy services. With Doinn, you can book, for instance, housekeeping and laundry.

Dropbike (Spain)

A smart rental platform based on mobile technology, Dropbike is solving the challenge it is to rent a bike in a city. The platform matches the demand in public bike transportation with underutilized resources (fleet and personnel) of traditional bike rentals.

Ecocubo (Portugal)

Aiming to fill a gap in the nature tourism market, Ecocubo intends to develop activities, supported by a set of support structures, that allows ecologically conscious and sustainable discovery and exploration.

Find.Exchange (UK)

As the name says, Find.Exchange finds and compares the best exchange rates. They do it in 3 fields: travel money, money transfers and Travel Prepaid Cards.

FindMyLost (Italy)

The first Social Lost & Found, FindMyLost is the only platform that allows you to get your lost item back wherever you are, at any time. Very useful for travelers.

Firefly Experience (UK)

The perfect way to stitch the most important moments of your trip together into a digital story.

Firef.ly uses your GPS location to blend these moments into a map over time into a smart-friendly design.

Gooyave (France)

Gooyave uses AI and machine learning to help travel professionals increase the conversion rate of their travel expenses (apart from transportation, lodging and packages). They also make cross-selling a reality to the same traveler throughout the journey.

Ground Control Studios (Portugal)

Ground Control Studios are focused on VR Game/Experience. They are developing a VR tool that enables users to make a tour on a given space and even interact with the space, by moving objects or changing elements.

Handiscover (Sweden)

As the first community based Holiday accommodation-booking website dedicated to people with Physical disabilities, Handiscover is definitely unique. They even have a classification system that allows users to select accommodations based on their level of physical disability.

Infraspeak (Portugal)

In the end, it’s all about making our lives easier: Infraspeak is a painless facility management solution, allowing customers to enhance control and efficiency, cutting costs and reducing bureaucracy by up to 70%.

Regit.Today (Singapure)

Regit.Today is a compliant real-time communication platform between customers and businesses. It secures the management and exchange of personal information, replacing channels like forms, emails or calls, for instance.

Roundstay (Italy)

A great complement to your trip, Roundstay allows you to plan within a whole set of healthy choices: You could, for instance, book your hotel based on the quality of the breakfast or the size of the fitness facilities.

Secret City Trails (The Netherlands)

A new way to discover a new city or even your own. Secret City Trails takes travelers and locals on urban adventures during which they have to solve a trail of cryptic clues via the web app. Each trail will take the players on a discovery journey.

Studiomapp [Qirate] (Italy)

A SaaS for Location intelligence that rates quality of life in urban areas, Studiomapp [Quirate] uses different indicators to understand if the location and neighbourhood will satisfy the traveler’s needs, such as touristic attractions and services or even noise and safety.

Talkifly (Portugal)

Talkifly is disrupting the traditional business of travel agents thought technology. With a platform that is engaging and easy to use, travellers use the chat to explain what they need and then receive a tailored set of options.

Thismo Messenger (Germany)

A contemporary way to connect customers and businesses — through the messaging app Thismo Messenger, clients can just drop a message to their hotel, shop or service provider to get to know what they need.

Visor.ai (Portugal)

Claiming to be your virtual customer support advisor, visor.ai aims to help companies reducing drastically costs and workloads in their customer support departments, while increasing their service level.

The 20 startups will fit their projects within the areas of each partner of the program: Turismo de Portugal, Agência Abreu, Airbnb, Amadeus, Barraqueiro, NOS and Pestana Hotel Group.

By the end of the week, up to 15 startups will be selected to continue to the acceleration phase, starting in September. Good luck to all!