When Amadeus’ support programme to mentor and nurture seed-stage startups in Asia Pacific launched in 2015, they set out with the goal of creating better traveler experiences by solving pain points across the traveler journey.
We saw an opportunity to grow the region’s most promising startups by introducing them to our clients that include some of the world’s biggest airlines, airports, hotel groups and travel agencies and providing them with access to our experience and technology, as well as international expansion opportunities.
While a lot has changed over the last few years, particularly in 2020, the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of Asia’s startup founders continues to impress. Indeed, while the US and Europe have traditionally been regarded as the world centres for innovation, this has started to shift.
A recent report by Startup Genome estimates that APAC is now home to nearly one third of the world’s top startup ecosystems, meaning that ideas and innovation are just as likely to emerge in the East and flow to the West as vice versa.
In light of this, we have decided to bring all of our startup programmes globally under one umbrella brand – Amadeus for Startups – to give Asia’s travel technology entrepreneurs more access to international opportunities. Amadeus has had a longstanding interest in the startup community, fuelling the growth of thousands of startups through funding, technology, expertise and partnerships over the past few years. Today, we think this need for collaboration has never been more important.
Indeed, as the travel industry begins to think about recovery, we see exciting growth opportunities for Asia’s startup community.
Four areas for innovation in the COVID-19 era
The sudden, unforeseen changes in how people travel have created the industry’s biggest ever need for urgent innovation. We are seeing the accelerated adoption of many technologies that were previously considered a ‘nice to have’ for the travel sector, and there are also numerous brand-new opportunities to address completely new challenges that have been thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also Read: Lessons from a travel tech startup founder on navigating the pandemic-stricken business landscape
Four areas in particular stand out as being ripe for startup innovation:
Automated health checks
Rapid, automated health testing at airports will be central to borders reopening and reassuring passengers that it is safe to travel again. We see a big opportunity for startups to develop more sophisticated ways of doing this than the simple temperature checks that are currently in use.
The key will be to find ways to implement this on a mass scale, with minimal disruption to passenger processing.
Touch less technologies
Airports and airlines were already dipping their toes into ‘contactless’ technologies before the pandemic hit, to reduce queues and make the whole experience of flying easier and more convenient for their customers.
In our new world, this has become essential for hygiene reasons too. Startups that can find novel ways to reduce or remove ‘contact’ from the necessary steps involved in flying, will be in high demand.
We anticipate much higher demand for these sorts of services in the near future, so startups should look into which other aspects of the check-in and boarding process can be made ‘touch less’ or removed from the terminal altogether.
Movement tracking
Thirdly, we see a big need for technology that can help airports and airlines operate and be more efficient, while ensuring passengers are getting through the gates smoothly and safely.
This technology can also assist with compliance – from making sure that social distancing is being observed, to encouraging the wearing of masks.
Equipping existing cameras and static check points with AI software to monitor this will be key to ensuring passenger processing and enforcing policies more effectively and efficiently than through human monitoring alone.
Disruption management
Finally, with COVID-19 looking set to be a perennial concern, there is a greater need than ever before for innovative technologies that support disruption management in the travel industry too – so that last-minute changes in travel restrictions, flight schedules and re-bookings can be managed easily, for airlines, hotels, tour operators as well as the end traveler.
Also Read: Here are the 5 predictions for Southeast Asia’s travel industry trends post-COVID-19
We are focused on constant innovation in all of these areas, to best support our customers through the challenges of COVID-19, so we are always on the look-out for startups who can innovate in any of these fields.
Key to startup success in travel sector
Whilst COVID-19 has had a huge impact on global economies, through crisis comes creativity, and we see many opportunities for the APAC startups that embrace it with a ‘glass half full’ mentality.
Airlines, airports and hotels are more receptive to quick trials than ever before – so speed to market and agility will be key.
In particular, Asia’s startups should concentrate on developing minimal viable product propositions to quickly demonstrate proof of concept, with the ability to scale at a later date.
Another important consideration that Asia’s travel tech entrepreneurs should bear in mind is that legacy technology and infrastructures are rife across the industry, so ease of installation is a particularly strong selling point for any new technologies.
Lastly, the COVID-19 situation is unpredictable and changing all the time. Being able to quickly adapt in the face of further changes will stand any budding startups in good stead.
Ultimately, travel is vital to the recovery and growth of Asia Pacific’s economies. We continue to be impressed by the innovation and talent in this region and are confident that the startup community will continue to rise to the occasion and play a pivotal role in helping the wider industry rethink travel and reignite traveler confidence.
Together, we can all ensure the travel industry continues to be a key driver of global progress, positivity and prosperity.
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