Thursday 16 March 2017

Travel start-ups compete in London at EyeforTravel’s 2017 European Summit


EyeforTravel’s Startup & Innovation in Travel Awards taking place at the Europe Summit 2017 (London, May 3-4) now has a number of start-ups signed up including What3Words (www.what3words.com/),Daytrip (www.ondaytrip.com/) , Transfer Travel (www.transfertravel.com/) and Stay Planner (www.stayplanner.com/)   

Applications are currently still open and will close on April 20. The start-ups will pitch their businesses in front of a panel of experienced investors on conference day 1, who will be judging their financial potential. The two best pitches will be chosen to present in front of the 400+ summit attendees, with the winner chosen through a live audience poll of more than 400 attendees.

This year, EyeforTravel Europe will see attendees from all sectors within the travel industry. Some of the confirmed brands in attendance include Priceline, Momondo, TUI, Odigeo, NH Hotels, Eurail, Lufthansa, BMI, Lonely Planet, Starwood Hotels, Eurostar, Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Wyndham Worldwide, Accor, Aegean Airlines and more.

"EyeforTravel exceeded all expectations in helping us meet key decision makers from some of the biggest travel organisations globally” says Andy Peck, CEO and Founder of Trustedhousesitters, a participant at the 2016 awards. He added “We’ve attended events both in the EU and US and the connections made and insights gleaned have been invaluable. We’d definitely recommend anyone looking to drive commercial exposure to get involved with Eye for Travel. It's really helped us progress business development forwards and we really enjoyed attending the well-organised and informative events."

The judges for the 2017 awards include:
  •         Timothy Hentschel co-founder and CEO, HotelPlanner.com
  •         Callum Lee, Investment Analyst, Angel Capital Group (tbc)
  •        Clive Jacobs, Chairman, Jacobs Media Group
  •         Charlie Woolnough, Hedgefund professional, Quorum (tbc)
  •         Christopher Persson, General Partner, Recapex (tbc)
  •         Dick Porter, Portfolio Chairman and Investor (founder and former CEO, STA Travel)
  •          Brian Harniman, Managing Director, Brand New Matter Inc


  “I honestly believe that the disruptors in the travel scene will be those who can really tap into the latent needs that the market has and deliver a service that beats the traditional suppliers” said Tim Gunstone, MD of EyeforTravel, “For the past 20 years, we have consistently tried to make EyeforTravel Europe the nexus of innovation in the travel industry and 2017 is no different, we expect to see the disruptive technologies and business models that are in the pipeline”.

For more information about the awards and to find out how start-ups can enter, please visit http://events.eyefortravel.com/travel-distribution-summit-europe/awards.php


Feel free to get in touch with Tim directly at tim@eyefortravel (please use 'EU startup awards' in the subject)