The Nordics are known worldwide for the tourist destinations of natural beauty: The waterfalls, mountains, valleys, fjords, glaciers, and other natural phenomena are many and scattered throughout the five countries that make up the Nordics. The limited air pollution and the ‘Nordic light’ helped alleviate the Nordics to a position of fairytale-like fame internationally. And with the added touch of snow and northern lights, many of the Nordic destinations look even more magical in winter, than in the summer.

The Nordics consist of the five countries Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. But with so many destinations ideal for traveling – both within the Nordics and in the entire world – what will be the best travel experience for you? What if there was a way of ‘testing’ a traveling experience before you go there or ways of expanding on your experience while you are on your journey?

The answer to this lies in the innovative technologies that are being developed for the travel industry. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, ‘time looper’ (learn about history through a ‘time travel’ at your destination), robots for carrying luggage, and doing reception work might sound like science fiction to many of us. And yet, they are exciting features that await you at the most innovative travel destinations in Europe and the US. In a world where people are increasingly dependent on technology, travelers enjoy the freedom and easy-going ways of booking through social media or trying on a pair of AR/VR goggles for an immersive travel experience. Among the visions for the future of travel, there is the desire of making the traveling experiences smoother and more easily accessible – and better overall, by making sure they are more environmentally friendly.

Innovating the experience of ‘traveling in style’

So how can all these technologies work on becoming publicly known to the large audiences?

Nordic Traveltech Lab is a network whose purpose is to encourage and facilitate cooperation among industry partners throughout the region and to boost innovation, competence building, investment, technological development, environmental impact, and start-up activities in the Nordic travel tech industry. Per Arne Friestad is the CEO of the Nordic Traveltech Lab and says they will function as a connector between people, companies, and larger communities that up until now haven’t had any way to get in touch with others in the Nordic industry.

– The Nordic Traveltech Lab will be a “virtual” network, connecting national hubs, start-ups, public organizations, and investors. As such it will build on existing national and Nordic initiatives. The network will channel industry expertise and reflect the needs and priorities of the tourism and travel industry across the Nordic region, says Friestad.

In cooperation with Startup Norway (a well-known accelerator and co-working space), Nordic Traveltech Lab is now launching the Nordic Travel Tech Incubator. The incubator will aim to help travel startups showcase themselves, and teach them how they can attract investors and do fundraising for their startups. The program will be a combination of structured lectures, practical workshops on creating fundraising and marketing materials, and mentor support from the travel industry veterans. At the conclusion of the program, the startups will have a set of fundraising materials, sales and partnership presentations, and marketing campaign mock-ups and will have an opportunity to participate in the demo day and pitch their venture to both investors and potential corporate customers/partners.

Janna Goncharova is Startup Norway’s incubator manager and says the travel industry is being challenged due to the Covid-19 situation, and that helping the industry is important to ensure its survival.

– Travel is one of the industries that adopted digitization first. For example, airline ticket sales were one of the first areas of e-commerce and all industry players are under pressure to keep introducing innovation because of the fierce competition in the sector. Currently, this pressure is even stronger because of the unprecedented challenges the industry is facing due to the pandemic. Therefore supporting travel startups and connecting them to the key industry players, investors and corporate partners are more important than ever. Combining Startup Norway startup development knowhow with the travel industry expertise of the Nordic Traveltech Lab partners allows us to offer travel tech startups the tools and network necessary not just to survive the crises but also to thrive in the future, says Janna Goncharova, the incubator manager.

The incubator will take place from the end of January to the end of June 2021, and a total of 10 companies will take part in it. Joining the incubator means getting access to travel-specific competence gathered by the Nordic Traveltech Network and Startup Norway. During the incubator, the startups will learn how to develop their fundraising materials, pitch to investors, develop the Go to Market strategy, both for B2C and B2B business models, create and demonstrate traction, and sign up industry partners and corporate customers. Friestad says this program is the first-ever fundraising program of its kind that the industry can support and shape.

Per Arne Friestad (Nordic Traveltech Lab) and Janna Goncharova (Startup Norway).

Putting travel tech on the map

As for why travel tech startups should dedicate their time to an incubator when the future seems so uncertain, Friestad says the hope and desire for a different future is part of the ambition.

– 2020 has been a different year for us all, and one of the Nordic Travel Tech Incubator’s ambitions is to show that there is a “life after Covid-19”. A crisis will always offer opportunities for rethinking what we know, and many ideas come from the people who are traveling – not from the big travel agencies. But the agencies often possess the most resources for developing the ideas further. The travel industry can be confusing and difficult to navigate when there is no available network or incubator for the purpose – and our ambition is to help and guide startups and others involved in the travel industry. Often, innovation in the travel industry happens within the already ‘big players, but we want to pave the way for smaller companies with groundbreaking ideas, says Friestad.

But with an increasingly more globalized world, is having several travel tech programs really a necessity? Goncharova emphasizes the importance of having an initiative specifically focused on the Nordic countries.

– There are similar programs in other regions where tourism is a major part of the economy, e.g. Spain. Creating a Nordic-level program will make it easier for local startups to be more competitive compared to international players that are used to getting a lot of support in their home markets, says Goncharova.



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