Ficci launches travel start-up launch-pad

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) has launched `Travel Tech Launch-pad' for travel start-ups, as part of its initiative aimed at enhancing the country's digital drive.

''Travel Tech Launch-pad'' will be a platform that encourages innovation and growth of travel startups during the second edition of Ficci's flagship event titled `Digital Travel, Hospitality and Innovation Summit', scheduled to be held on 22-23 March 2017 in New Delhi.

The summit content will enhance the potency of travel start-ups, digital tourism and IT-based infrastructure development for the travel and hospitality sector, Ficci stated in a release.

The summit will offer an opportunity for travel startups to learn from experts in the field of travel, exhibit their business ideas, and display their products and services in addition to providing a unique opportunity to connect with right set of ecosystem partners.

A number of travel startups, hospitality and technology companies from across India and abroad are expected to attend the summit in addition to the participation of leading investors such as Sequoia, Inventus Capital, Kae Capital and several angel / venture capital firms.

Travel and tourism carries a tremendous potential that is acknowledged as essential for the country's economic growth. The Indian travel and tourism industry has been growing steadily and needs to be explored with new innovations. The sector's direct contribution to GDP is expected to grow by 7.2 per cent per annum during 2015–25, as per IBEF. The tourism sector has seen investments worth $42.9bn in 2015 and is expected to attract $132.9bn by 2025.

Travel Tech Launch-pad 2017 is being organised by Ficci in association with Agnitio Consulting LLP, Nucleus Partners, TravHQ Media and Charson Advisory.

"FICCI is launching the `Travel Tech Launch-pad' with an objective of encouraging entrepreneurship and technology innovation in the field of travel and hospitality," Rahul Chakravarty, director and head – tourism, Ficci, said.

"The next generation of startups should embrace and incubate in the existing travel eco system to not only make an impact, but also help innovate the landscape around us," Ashish Kumar, managing partner at Agnitio Consulting LLP, a travel advisory firm, said

''There is ample scope for innovation in the travel space in India; on customer side (trip planning, deal discovery, ancillary services, payments), distribution (NDC technology, effective properties / services management), operations (integrated internal systems, automated processes). There is a good opportunity for startups to effectively work in these areas and several others with out-of-the-box thinking, effective use of emerging technologies, and robust execution," Abhishek Vaish, director, Nucleus Partners, a financial advisory firm, stated.

Travel startups have played a significant role in driving the industry forward with their aggressive approach and innovative solutions tailored to the local market conditions. According to TravHQ's recent research, in 2015, over $1.4 billion of travel startup investments were reported in India, said Daksh Sharma, managing partner of TravHQ, a travel-tech media firm, said.

''India's travel and tourism sector is a highly competitive industry; innovation with technology, customer service and prudent fiscal management must go hand in hand with a well-defined image & brand strategy that is inculcated at an early stage,'' stated Carl Vaz, CEO of Charson Advisory, an image and brand management agency.