Articles tagged “startups”

The surge in requests for refunds on canceled flights has given cover for con artists to commit a few types of fraud. Airlines need to tap better ways to protect themselves and travelers.

Itilite, a business travel management startup based in India, differs in emphasis from companies like TripActions and Travelperk. It's notable for focusing on mid-size to large companies, rather than small businesses. It also recommends only a few travel options to users on a first search.

Regardless of the shape of the travel recovery, it's clear that travel startups will be behind the curve. Many investors were already wary of funding new travel companies, but now they'll have to worry whether the next pandemic will shut them down anew.

Emadri, which makes money from packing and trip planning, and Hotel Data Cloud, which provides content distribution tools to hotels, have announced seed rounds of funding this week.

Airbnb's Chesky undoubtably still has that S-1 document in a laptop somewhere. With the pandemic lowering Airbnb's valuation by billions, that document will need a total rewrite. And with all that's going on in the world, it's difficult to even contemplate an eventual public listing right now.

All Nippon Airways has invested in Avatar-in, a startup that lets travelers use remote-controlled robots to see experiences far from them. Meanwhile, Eddy Travels, a digital booking assistant, has raised funding, too, despite the crisis. Keep hope alive.

New tech can screen passengers for elevated heart rates, respiratory rates, and temperatures. The kiosks sound minimal enough. But their accuracy and speed still need to be proven under busy airport conditions.

Please join Skift editors and research analysts, along with VC investors and startup founders, for this dive into the state of travel startups today.

This week, travel startups Air Doctor (which helps travelers find doctors overseas), Hotelmize (which helps bedbanks automatically rebook hotel rooms when rates drop), and Huilianyi (a business travel expense manager), announced rounds of investment this week, in a bit of good news.

Travel is a long-term megatrend because all across the globe people appreciate the value that it brings to their lives. This holds true across a vast range of human differences — cultural, geographical, religious, historical, generational, and more.