Without serving a real need of a large sector of the traveling population, it will be difficult to ever truly get many of these startups off the ground.
It's difficult to imagine a single kind of traveler that's underserved in today's market with so many niche services provided online. Despite that, new companies are launched every day to do just that.
It's better to be an early mover in an emerging trend than compete against a dozen or more established companies -- unless you can innovate on others' ideas and emerge with a far superior product.
There are hundreds of small platforms that offer an unprecedented way to travel in terms of making connections and saving on costs. However, most travelers don't have the time or flexibility to make these sites work there limited time off.
Startups that give consumers the ability to customize their experience, either through convenience or greater control, will succeed as the public's expectations for personalization and immediacy increase.
Travel startups that provide value to the back-end operations of business have a much better chance at success than those that simply connect consumers or facilitate search.
There are so many search, booking, and meeting services out there today that it can be hard to remember the very important roles that spontaneity and serendipity play in travel.
Startups are no longer competing with "the man" as they are competing with one another, suggesting very early arrivals should consider their competition a bigger threat than the status quo.
Building an active user base is the biggest challenge that any startup faces at inception. Giving users a reason to return regularly is needed from launch day.
With so many tools available to create a user's "perfect trip," it's hard to wonder whether anyone is actually seeing a destination any more or just seeing as they hoped and planned that they would.