Andrea Traversone, partner, Amadeus Capital Partners
Andrea Traversone will take part in Investors Roundtable: Follow the Money at Phocuswright Europe
Ahead of the event, he discusses the importance of security, why travel companies should invest in mobile and the challenges presented by the APAC region.
What topic should we be discussing right now, and why?
Unfortunately I think we have no choice but to discuss security. Over the past couple of years we have witnessed terror attacks in some of the most popular tourists destinations, from the beaches of North Africa, to key tourist hot spots like Berlin, Istanbul, Nice or Barcelona.
Although all of these destinations have bounced back quickly after these attacks, and as individuals we should not feel constrained to travel to any destinations because of the risk of a terrorist attacks, in reality it is only human to be concerned about these risks.
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Local governments, tourism ministries and the public/private tourism institutions should do more to support and complement the efforts against these threats and to educate travelers without scaremongering.
What is the most misunderstood element of your role and your company?
Because we are Amadeus Capital Partners, we often get wrongly associated with Amadeus – the GDS. We actually have no direct relationship or affiliation with Amadeus‐GDS.
Once that difference is established, our role is pretty clear: We are technology investors, and travel tech is a key area of interest for us, globally and in emerging markets in particular.
We like to back entrepreneurs in this sector who are building differentiated products and great businesses, and we are keen to support them.
If you could change one thing about how the travel industry functions, what would it be?
If I could change one thing it would be the cumbersome travel and customs’ controls imposed by many countries.
I wonder how much larger the global travel and tourism industry would be if more balanced policies were adopted.
Andrea Traversone - Amadeus Capital Partners
This is not necessarily how the travel industry functions per se, but it has had to adapt to such restrictions and processes: from some complex visas practices imposed by some countries, to the unabridged birth certificate regulations in South Africa or the currently restrictive air transport regulations in some continents.
I understand that governments have to balance immigration policies enforcement with welcoming tourists; however, it often seems that the real economic costs of such regulations, in terms of missed tourism income, are not carefully assessed.
I wonder how much larger the global travel and tourism industry would be if more balanced policies were adopted.
What is the biggest opportunity in online travel in 2018?
There are many, and the answer depends on what time horizons you are looking at. In the short and medium term, I still believe that the offline to online migration in emerging markets still represents by far the largest opportunity.
Another couple of interesting specific opportunities more long term are: the hybrid franchise business model – franchise plus online distribution ‐ in the hospitality industry being adopted in many Asian markets, and virtual interlining and multi‐modal routing in Europe.
What single piece of advice would you give a new business entering the travel industry?
You have to be mobile‐first – and maybe even mobile‐only. The travel industry is one of the first industries to adopt technology, and distribution is going digital very quickly in most markets making mobile the first – and in some cases the only – touch point with customers. Because of that a new B2C business has to be, in my mind, mobile-first.
We recently ran an article that said venture capital investments in travel tech could reach an all‐time high in 2018. What’s your take on that?
I think we will see many “all‐time highs” over the next 10 years when it comes to travel tech VC investments. We see a lot of entrepreneurs starting interesting businesses in this vertical and raising early stage rounds.
Many of these will grow to be significant businesses and raise much larger rounds. I think there is a long way to go.
What segment of the industry has the most to gain by investing in mobile?
All segments could see significant gains from investing in mobile. However, I would say that in-destination and last‐minute services discovery is probably the sector that has the most to gain, particularly if full integration with personal location, and context (calendar, preferences, payments) can be achieved.
What is the biggest challenge presented by the APAC region?
The unique combination of scale and speed. APAC is already at very significant scale and developing at a speed that we don’t see in many other regions.
Because of that, companies interested in or entering this region need to up their tempo in terms of execution and have access to significant resources and capital just to stay in the game in such a dynamic market environment.
Lean more about Andrea Traversone's session and Phocuswright Europe 2018