Karoline Storjord - 07.12.22

Our First Nordic Travel Tech Hunt

We have just completed our first Nordic Travel Tech Hunt and we could not be more excited! Creative business and tourism are often grouped together because they feed off each other. That is something we have first hand experience with here at 657 Oslo, and are lucky enough to have many creative tourism entrepreneurs here.

The 29th November 2022 we completed our first Tech Hunt for TravelTech together Travelopment, AISPOT and UP Norway. This was conducted as a pilot this time and also digitally over Zoom. We are tempted to make this a yearly occasion.

The winner of the contest was “TripDoodler” from Frederiksberg in Denmark led by Josephine Piplits. Congratulations! We would also like to give an honorable mention to “Handiscover” from Sweden. (more to come on both of these)

https://tripdoodler.com/

The Jury of Travel Tech Hunt Pilot

A big thanks to to our jury consisting of Håvard Utheim (Jury Leader), Anniken Fjelberg, Harald Jellum, Signe Mouridsen, Vedat Õnas and Kristian Færden Haanes. Also a special thanks to all the investors who speed dated the entrepreneurs during the program.

The Finalists

Last but not least, we would love to say thank you to our impressive finalists: Baadhy & Birdy, Campanyon, Lentii, Local Purse, TroppHopp, Visitverse, io and Cogoapp.io.

Our mission with Travel Tech Hunt is to highlight and showcase the most promising Travel tech startups in Scandinavia and strengthen the ecosystem which will contribute to growth and awareness around Travel Tech. The goal has been to  create value for the entrepreneurs by offering pitching advice and feedback from experts, before connecting them to investors and other operators in the field. As an invite only digital pilot program, it helped us gather information before expanding the program further and opening it up to the public.

 

The Winner – TripDoodler

Statistics show 70-80% of people would like to travel in a more sustainable way, however that is easier said than done. A study among tourists who were also members of environmental organizations such as Greenpeace showed that they do not always make more sustainable choices when they travel.

There can be many reasons, but one of the biggest is that it is difficult to really understand sustainability and the different certifications. For example, what do the certifications mean and how can we know that they are legit? This is where our winner TripDoodler comes in.

They want to make it easier to understand and compare the most sustainable offers at travel destinations. With the help of easy tools, you don’t have to be an expert or spend hours doing research. By staying alert and using your smartphone they will let the users contribute to make sure the places live up to the sustainable expectations. This is a new and better alternative to combat greenwashing.

Honorable mention – Handiscover

The travel industry has expanded through the years and the infrastructure has been improved enabling it to welcome large groups of tourists. People with disabilities make up 20% of the population and are a big demographic for hotels and travel destinations around the world.

In Europe alone, 120 million people live with a disability, and a lot of them are “invisible disabilities.” Today’s travel industry is not accessible for everyone, however the future of travel should be inclusive for everyone.

Handdiscover built their leading data platform to customize destinations that have been approved for people with disabilities. They help businesses and municipalities gather unique data to make their stay easier for people with disabilities.

Travel Tech Industry

Tourism is the world’s most lucrative industry. Almost 400 million people work within tourism and travel. Almost every 10th person works in a field that can be linked back to tourism. The industry stands for 10.2 % of the world’s GDP with approximately 7% of the global product and service export. By 2030 it is estimated we will have more than 1.8 billion international travelers, as well as 5-6 billion domestic travelers. In 36 of the poorest countries in the world travel and tourism is still responsible for 50-90 % GDP.

Travel and tourism is currently at an all time high after a post-COVID business boom, and it is expected to keep growing. We have a responsibility to make sure it moves in a sustainable and climate aware direction. The travel industry has been affected by “Over Tourism” and local wear and tear. These are issues that many of the Travel Tech Hunt startups are working to improve and solve.

 

Congratulations to everyone for attending and completing the first Nordic Travel Tech Hunt!