The best start-ups in the travel industry

At the Travel Start-up Night in Frankfurt, the best travel start-ups were selected with the participation of Connoisseur Circle.

Innovation is also essential for the travel industry - and fresh ideas often come from start-ups. The creative ideas and new approaches that are currently inspiring the industry were revealed at the Travel Start-up Night organized by TIC (Travel Industry Club) and VIR (Verband Internet Reiseindustrie) at the beginning of December in Frankfurt, where the best young companies in the German-speaking region were selected. Connoisseur Circle was one of the sponsors of the event and was represented on the expert jury.

On the premises of the law firm Advant Beiten , 6 start-ups were given the opportunity to present themselves and compete for victory. They had already survived various selection rounds beforehand, so the quality of what they presented was correspondingly high.

The winner of the Start-up Night was Onsai - the Leipzig-based company has developed an AI agent for hotels that answers phone calls, provides guests with information and checks bookings. Christian Müller, Chief Product Officer at Onsai, put it in a nutshell: "We are the voice that answers the phone for you." The aim is to relieve hotel employees and compensate for staff shortages. The AI is trained to answer (often repetitive) questions such as "Is there a parking space?". Thanks to the integration into existing systems, there should be no problems with bookings or questions about availability, emphasized Müller.

The second best start-up at the event in Frankfurt was NewTravel : The Passau-based company wants to drive forward the "digitalization of special trips" , as co-founder Stefan Hechberger explained. Until now, such trips - including hiking trips, for example - have been difficult to compare and book. Now, with the B2B tool "Hidden Tours", travel agencies are to be provided with what the company describes as the largest database for special trips in the DACH region.

Third place went to a start-up with a connection to Austria: founder Ronja Scherzinger wants to create FashionTouri a kind of Tripadvisor for shopping experiences when traveling . The idea behind it: Instead of shopping in the well-known large retail chains or in shopping malls, travelers should visit small, local stores. The idea is to combine shopping and sightseeing into tours. The young company initially launched in Vienna; around 190 companies and around 9,000 users have registered so far. The companies currently pay a fee, but in future the business model envisages a revenue share.

Three other start-ups, which also demonstrated considerable innovative potential, took the other places:

The Berlin start-up Nox Mobility wants to establish traveling by night train as a real alternative to short-haul flights. The idea: travelers no longer have to share their compartment with others, but instead spend the night in single cabins or (if they are travelling as a couple) in double cabins. The Nox team wants to equip existing trains with their own cabins; from 2027, various routes in Europe are to compete with airlines and by 2035 there should be as many as 35 routes. The target group is also business travelers, who could save themselves an overnight stay in a hotel thanks to the overnight journey, according to the calculation.

The Austrian start-up Traivelling wants to greatly simplify cross-border train travel and make prices transparent. Travelers who like to travel by train can use the portal traivelling.com to select the ideal route for them and book it straight away - without having to struggle through the various platforms of the individual rail companies.

Vantrip again wants to become a gatekeeper for camper trips: Motorhome travelers can plan a tour in Europe on the platform within a few minutes, including recommendations for pitches and must-see sights.