Valentin Dombrovsky, Founder of Travelabs & Co-founder of MySquire, joins Travel Tech Con 2018
We’re happy to welcome Valentin to Travel Tech Con 2018! Expect to get tons of insights about European travel tech scene & learn best approaches for startups looking to expand to European market.
Valentin started working in online travel industry in 2011 when he began working on event travel startup Travelatus. The company was launched in May 2013 and sold to global tours and activities marketplace Excursiopedia in December 2013. Valentin stayed with Excursiopedia till September 2015 first being VP of Innovations and then Head of Market Relations. During his work in travel industry Valentin also cofounded Travel Startups (Russian) and Travel Startups Intl. communities. Today, he is known as Chief Alchemist at Travelabs and co-founder at MySquire. Valentin produces Travel Tech Conference Russia, serves as Phocuswright Innovation Platform ambassador and likes to write and to talk about online travel from time to time. Connect with Valentin on Linkedin & Twitter.
We had a chance to talk to Valentin about his perspective on the state of travel tech startups.
Valentin, what in your opinion drives innovation and leaps forward in travel tech today and how is it different from say 10 years ago?
I’d start from the end of the question and will say that 10 years ago there was a lot of space for startups in improvement of social interactions between people. There was reason why Airbnb, for example, was launched 10 years ago and experience huge growth along with the growth of various social platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.).
Today this niche seems to be full — lots of travel startups try to build “Airbnb for X” or “Uber for Y” and it seems that investors are tired of pitches of such kind already.
I believe that today lots of opportunities come from professionals who have worked in travel space (hotels, airlines etc.) for a while and have deep understanding of particular and specific industry needs. The barrier for entry remains low thanks to all new tech infrastructure developments, but barrier for growth is really high. That’s why deep industry expertise (or access to such expertise) becomes great competitive advantage.
What do startups building next generation travel tech products need to understand about technology evolution nowadays?
I think that those who could claim themselves as “advanced users” of modern internet and mobile tech and follow the trends in the space, should have enough knowledge of new technology developments and evolution. AI, blockchain, mobile and voice tech — this is something that everyone in internet industry has heard about. Of course, there’s difference between view from the user’s perspective and view “from the back-end”, but it’s not that hard to figure this out.
The most difficult part is to find right way to apply technology to business needs. I believe that tech could solve lots of problems, but not without someone who makes the right questions to get valid answers.
What are some of your favorite travel tech products or projects that the industry should be paying attention to?
Well, I like to follow the developments of Airbnb and how it’s turning into new travel tech empire competing with giants like Expedia or Booking Holdings. I believe that the things that this company is doing inspire others to explore untapped opportunities and to look for new ideas. It goes both for larger companies and startups.
I also like the new company which was created by Kayak founder Paul English — Lola — mobile app for corporate travelers which uses personalization along with human support from experienced tour agents. I had idea of such kind myself actually and glad to see that one of the industry veterans builds company around it.
I am following some of the startups in the b2b space too. One example that I can give is Booklyng — hotel website optimization tool that uses AI to bring up more direct bookings to its customers. The company was the winner at Travel Tech Conference Russia startup pitch competition last year.
In general, I like to see travel tech companies tackling new problems in a creative way. 1000th travel planning startup is not something that I’d pay my attention to. Travel industry is huge and I see lots of opportunities to explore!
Join Valentin’s deep dive session on European travel tech scene at Travel Tech Con 2018. All TTC18 pass holders are eligible to attend the workshops as part of the three days program.
