The travel industry took its greatest hit in recent memory during the pandemic. Around the world, flights came to a near standstill in 2020 as part of a global effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. A report from the Economic Survey of Singapore showed that it was only in Q4 2021 that vaccinated travel lanes in countries around Southeast Asia started to open up.
As global travel opens up after two years of restrictions, Singapore is expecting between 4 to 6 million international travellers in 2022 alone. We are seeing a resurgence in the industry in the form of “revenge travel”, with 46% of Singaporeans willing to spend to travel. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects international air travel to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, a year sooner than their previous 2024 estimate.
The travel industry is in a unique situation. Though it faces the challenge of being rebooted from a pre-pandemic era to rejoin other industries on a shorter runway than expected, this revival serves as an opportunity for startups to face that challenge on a fresh slate and set a new bar for disruption.
Here are four travel tech startups from the Korea Tourism Startup Center (KTSC) program in South Korea that have rolled with the punches during the pandemic, and seek to expand our perceptions of the travel industry, and the creative use of technology in a post-pandemic world.
Tripbtoz – Enhancing the physical travel experience with metaverse layers
During the transitional periods between lockdowns, the world became more receptive to phygital experiences. Tripbtoz is a video-based travel app that leverages content travelling through Web3 and extended reality (XR) technologies, adding virtual and interactive layers to enhance physical locations. Using Tripbtoz’s platform, government agencies and property owners can run campaigns, while users can make journals and guide for others to enjoy. This allows a single location to be experienced in many unique way