The document discusses the need for more intrapreneurs in the travel industry. It notes that startups like Airbnb and Uber disrupted their industries by bypassing existing companies and focusing on innovation. Similarly, TripAdvisor revolutionized the hotel industry by making reviews public. The document argues that while existing travel companies focus on their current operations, intrapreneurs within these companies are needed to dream big, challenge conventions, and invent the future of travel technology. It concludes that innovative intrapreneurs and access to data will be crucial to evolving the travel industry for new generations.

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Travel Tech Space Needs More
Intrapreneurs
Travel is big business. In fact, it is one of the biggest businesses around. In
India, travel and hospitality sector accounts for over 7.5 % GDP.
As we have seen, innovation arrives out of necessity and there are
entrepreneurs who are crazy enough to challenge the conventions. Let us see
what corporate entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs have succeeded in changing
things.
Business Models of Global Travel Startups
Big names like Airbnb bypassed the entire hospitality industry and created a
major ecosystem of alternative short-term rentals. And while Uber isn't the first
thing one would consider when one looks at the travel industry, they too have

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gone out to create a whole new ecosystem essentially by bypassing the existing
companies.
One could argue that the reason these startups came and stole so much market
share is because existing industry leaders focused more on what they had, and
lost the opportunity to innovate.
Let us learn from this example. TripAdvisor brought exactly the same thing
what hotels didn’t feel comfortable doing, making reviews open to everyone.
They now exert so much power that even the best hotels need to remain sharp
to ensure they keep delivering great service. What they've done for the hotel
industry is just a little less than a revolution. TripAdvisor has managed to
change how hotels operate to the point where the guest once again is king. It
all started as a small team with a polarizing idea.
Rise Of Online Travel Startups
When the Online Travel Agencies came along, way before anybody believed it
could be done, they essentially did what many hotels didn't want to do –
invested in new technology and attitudes towards the storage and management
of valuable data (inventory, pricing, digital assets and consumer behavior). The
result is that they've redirected hotel distribution from a game owned and
controlled mostly by hotel chains and travel agents.
So, Why There Is A Need For Intrapreneurs?
The point is, hotel and travel technology needs operators and technologists who
are ready to promote change –people who will dream big, challenge the status
quo and do what existing companies won't do, because most hotel and travel
technology companies are so busy doing what they do (operate), that they
haven't have the time or focus inventing the future.

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Conclusion
It will take innovative intrepreneurs and hotel operators establishing in-house
R&D teams, who are ready to take risks in order to evolve an age old and
beloved industry into for the next generations. What all these visionaries will
need is access to data. The less friction there is to exchange data, the faster
and easier it will be to integrate systems and increase the potential for
innovation.