Five trends from travel startups that will redefine the tourism industry

Asians are getting wealthier, and the Asian tourism sector is one of the fastest growing in the world. At the same time, they’re also getting more Internet saavy, and while infrastructure in developing countries are lacking, that has not stopped them from accessing the Internet in droves through their mobile phones.

These two trends present tantalizing opportunities for startups who want to reach out to a new generation of young Asian travelers with increasingly sophisticated tastes. And indeed, many startups in Singapore and Asia are starting to do so.

Here, we survey some of the interesting travel startups in Singapore, and tease out some trends that may very well represent the future of Asia’s booming tourism industry.

Photo: The Golden Stupa in Laos. Asia is becoming a popular tourism destination as well as a source of affluent tourists. By Rolling Okie

1) Customized travel itineraries will be all the rage.

Traditionally, bespoke vacation itineraries have always been the preserve of the wealthy. After all, planning a trip catering to the specific tastes of a particular client requires more effort than preparing a standard tour package for the masses.

But with the lower overheads of running an Internet business, it seems like customized tours has been made affordable for the middle class. Uniq Travel Planner is one company spearheading this trend.

They are a bespoke travel agency offering one-of-a-kind trips for travelers who prefer four-star accommodation and above. By taking in a small number of clients, they promise attentive service to customers who don’t want the hassle of planning their own trips.

2) Sustainable tourism will become more popular.

Traveller International is a travel agency that offers tour packages to tourists who shun kitschy tourists attraction but prefer a more immersive cultural experience. Customers select the destinations they want to visit, customize their tour, and place a booking deposit directly on the site.

Travelers who are willing to fork out more can opt to receive personalized attention to create a custom-made tour, much like Uniq Travel Planner. The bonus here is that a portion of Travel International’s profits will go towards local conservation work in various countries.

Eco Travel Services caters to another group — nature lovers and the environmentally conscious. They are actively involved in offsetting their travelers’s carbon footprint via tree planting projects and other initiatives. They even welcome volunteers to join them in these endeavors.

This tour agency also caters to more budget conscious travelers. Individual tours start from only S$50 (US$38) per person for mangrove kayaking at Pulau Ubin. A family tour to Bali Indonesia goes for around S$220 (US$170) per participant.

3) Online travel planning tools will make a traveler’s life easier through aggregation or crowdsourcing.

The sheer amount of information available these days can cause confusion, so it’s only a matter of time before people think of ways to streamline the process of vacation planning.

With the explosion of budget air travel, startups like Flocations and GetFlight aim to make it easy for travelers to make sense of a sea of competing offers. Users have the ability to “search by price”; budget-minded tourists who are not particular about their travel destinations can simply key in how much they’re willing to pay and receive a list of recommendations.

GetFlight was founded in Australia but recently expanded to Singapore. In October 2011, they won the title of Grooviest Start-up at the WebInTravel Bootcamp.

Another app, FlightLover, has a slightly different approach, catering to travelers with flexible schedules. After they key in their destination and length of stay, the app brings up results showing the cheapest plane tickets over a three month period.

Travelers seeking general information on a particular country can consider 3rd Planet, which aims to immerse users in a country before visiting it. By navigating within 3D recreations of actual landmarks, travelers can find out tourist-related information about a country in the comforts of home.

Besides aggregating available information on the Internet into one portal, relying on the wisdom of the crowds is another popular way startups are enhancing travel planning.

The short-term rental phenomena is already well-documented, with sites like Roomorama (interview with founders), 9flats, and Airbnb letting home owners open up their spare rooms for tourists.

Singapore-based app developer Hoiio has even taken the Airbnb concept and applied it to Guidebnb, an app that lets anyone be a local guide.

Crowdsourcing has also been applied to enhance online travel planning tools for DIY travelers. GoBedRock is a travel planner app for flashpackers. It will allow users to “connect, share, and post” their favorite travel moments with others. This information will then be used to connect users with affordable, independent hotels.

Another travel planner, Qiito (pronounced key-tow), lets users plan their trips based on travel content and recommendations contributed by others. Currently in private alpha testing, the app will be highly visual and intuitive by using a drag-and-drop interface. Users can also share their itinerary with friends, who would be able to comment on it.

They have already secured more than S$2M (US$1.5M) from a Japanese venture capitalist, and are partnering with the Taiwan Tourism Board to promote destinations in the country.

4) Expect more travel deals and rewards that can be redeemed online.

The travel industry is not spared from the daily deals bug. Group buying sites like Wego and Deal.com.sg offer deals to destinations within and beyond Singapore. Travelogy, a travel startup that operates travel sites ComeSingapore and TripZilla, is also using daily deals to draw visitors in.

ComeSingapore is a comprehensive site that offers visitors to Singapore information on places of attraction, upcoming events, and hotel accomodations in the country. The site also aggregate deals to local places in Singapore. TripZilla (formerly known as TourPackages.com.sg), with over 300,000 pageviews a month, is more outward focused: It  offers Singaporeans a large database of tour packages and deals to other locations.

Taking a different tack to the deals and discounts phenomenon is OneAirport, an up-and-coming startup that offers users rewards for browsing, flying, shopping, and dining at airports around the world. Points earned can be redeemed for rewards, which can be discovered by accessing the app. OneAirport also serves as a directory to restaurants, cafes, retail stores, and currency exchange at more than 50 airports globally.

The startup was a finalist at Seedcamp Singapore 2010, which consisted of a full day of mentorship with investors and successful entrepreneurs.

5) SaaS for the hospitality industry will become more widely adopted.

RoomAvailability.info is a company that offers hoteliers a web app to easily accept, view, and manage online bookings. According to managing director Artemis Mendrinos, booking engines and web-based reservations management software have often been delivered under an IT project approach, and that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is still a new concept in the tourism industry.

RoomsAvailability.info is designed to be quick to sign up, low in cost, and easy to use. It also offers an integrated communication system between the hotelier and the customers, the ability to handle traditional phone, email, instant, and web bookings, and a feature that converts quotations to real bookings.

The tourism industry is set to undergo major disruption in the next few years. While some startups look poised to compete directly and even take business away from traditional hotels and travel agencies, others have taken the approach of bringing business to them.

The new reality is that travelers are increasingly looking to the Internet for information discovery and travel planning. Whether traditional companies and startups alike can thrive will depend on their ability to capture this growing group of Internet-savvy travelers.

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