Travelport helps travel start-ups

Travelport has announced the development of a new programme to accelerate the growth of start-up companies in the travel commerce sector.

The Incubation programme will accept up to four start-ups every four months, which will have access to a Travelport mentor. At the end of each programme, each team then has the opportunity to participate in a demo day to pitch their innovations to senior Travelport executives, investors and other potential partners from across the travel industry, in a bid to secure future investment.

“We know there are some highly talented developers and travel start-ups out there who are also looking to have a positive impact on the travel commerce landscape,” said Jason Nash, Travelport’s head of marketing & product incubation. “This incubator allows us to join forces with these exciting companies of the future in a mutually beneficial way.

“The start-ups will benefit from exceptional support and we’re really looking forward to partnering with them to work on some seriously exciting ideas and innovations focused on the unmet needs of our customers.”

Jason Nash
Jason Nash
Start-ups accepted to the Incubation programme will have access to Travelport’s team of product managers, designers, developers and coaches. Participants will also be offered use of Travelport’s APIs, software development kits and data feeds, as well as feedback from Travelport’s customers, including travel agencies and travel content providers.

As part of its hosting programme, Travelport will also provide office space and other support services.

The first Incubator session is planned to begin in late summer and follows a similar, incubation program that has been running internally for Travelport employees.

“We’ve already tested our approach with our internal teams and figured out how to run a programme like this and maximise the adoption of lean and agile marketing methodology. This has also successfully helped us identify some budding internal entrepreneurs, many of whom were in unrelated roles, and we now want to replicate that success and support innovation in the external incubator program,” added Nash.

sourced:traveldailymedia.com