Articles tagged “vcroundup”

A $20 million investment in a consumer travel content company? From one to another, that's nice news, but we struggle to see how much growth it can really have.

OnceThere has proven it can attract some investor attention but tours and activities is a sometimes-low margin business and it's next step is demonstrating it can link up with more booking sites in the U.S. and around the world.

We love the idea of Remote Year but can't figure out the attraction for venture capital, except perhaps the desire to live vicariously through other people spending your money.

TripAdvisor's investing activity was down more than $30 million for the first half of 2016 and its investment in Southeast Asia's Eatigo doesn't mean it's turning up the heat on funding for startups. However, it does signal TripAdvisor's ongoing interest in getting deeper into dining reservations around the world.

Things haven't looked great on paper for travel startup funding this year. Many investors have told us they feel there's a lack of originality in travel and that, combined with the global economy, likely explains what's going on.

Travelers want to consume content on the same devices that they use for every other aspect of their lives and that includes virtual reality videos. InstaVR's focus on apps helps travel brands reach their audiences that may not own virtual reality headsets yet and enjoy watching videos on their phones.

Travelers will never tire of experiences that get them closer to food and people in a city and apps using the VizEat model have taken off with locals as much as they have with travelers.

Many travelers, particularly wealthy ones, will always look to dine in the most exclusive restaurants any destination offers. Restaurant dining, however, is just one of a variety of food experiences travelers are looking for and mobile dining reservations apps should consider this as they expand.

Cruise lines in Europe are at somewhat of a crossroads, with a major brand like Norwegian saying its European cruise bookings are down and Carnival's CEO arguing Brexit could give UK cruising an edge. With more cruise lines shifting focus to China it will be interesting to watch if a European cruise site can continue commanding investor attention over others in China, for example.

This week's Delta Air Lines global outage puts a spotlight on the opportunity for startups such as AirHelp, which helps travelers deal with flight disruptions and makes a disjointed passenger experience less miserable.