TIS2024 Touristech Startup Fest winning solutions: Travel apparel rental and smart hotel water management
For yet another edition, Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS) has held the world's largest entrepreneurship competition in the tourism industry. More than 400 startup companies have applied as candidates for the Touristech Startup Fest 2024, of which 40 have been the finalists and have presented their business models in front of investors in Travel Tech in Seville, Spain. This year, the international participation of entrepreneurs has grown with projects from countries such as Spain, Argentina, the United States, Slovakia, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Mexico, Bhutan and Italy.
The finalists competed to captivate companies and investors from different segments of the tourism industry: Hospitality, Distribution Channels, Destinations, Mobility and Travel, Activities and Leisure, and MICE. Nine startups emerged as the winners of this edition.
On one hand, the PCT Cartuja Award has been granted to Aumentur, a platform that allows tourism managers to create tour guides with multimedia content accessible from mobile devices. The app, available on iOS and Android, stands out for its ease of use and self-management capacity for tourist destinations. Regarding solutions to improve and facilitate the travelers' experience, the Nebext Award also went to the startup NaviSavi, a marketplace for short travel videos that inspire, plan and facilitate the booking of tourist experiences. Its platform integrates user-generated content and offers an extensive library of videos to large companies in the sector.
Technological solutions applied to the tourism sector have also been awarded in this edition of the Touristech Startup Fest. The Fábrica de Sevilla Award went to Turbosuite, a comprehensive revenue management solution that combines big data, artificial intelligence and revenue management experts to maximise profitability in the tourism sector. For its part, the Italian fintech Takyon has won the Turijobs Award. Takyon introduces the buying and selling of reservations through Blockchain-based digital assets “TAKs”, offering flexibility to travellers to resell or transfer their reservations.
In the field of sustainability, SwiftOn has been awarded the WTTC - World Trade & Tourism Council Award. It is an innovative IoT device that addresses water scarcity in the hospitality industry. It uses AI to monitor water use in real-time, managing to reduce, according to its studies, 370% of hotel consumption. Likewise, the Melilla Tourism Award went to Hack Packing, a startup that offers a clothing and accessories rental service to travellers at their destinations, eliminating the need to carry luggage and reducing the environmental footprint of tourism. For its part, the Andalusian Tourism Award went to Biotonomy, a global company dedicated to developing buildings and autonomous communities inspired by nature-based solutions and biomimetics, with a focus on the regeneration of the built environment.
Finally, the VESS - Venture Studio Sevilla Award was shared between two startups. The first, Ringover, a SaaS platform that facilitates business communication with a cloud contact center, optimising customer relations and productivity. The second, TripResale, a solution that transforms non-refundable rates into resellable rates creating a secure Marketplace for buyer and seller.
