Is the Travel Startup Support Ecosystem Producing Innovation or ROI?

Summary

Phocuswright has tracked the launch of more than 80 travel-focused accelerators, incubators, early-stage investors and entrepreneur support programs in the last 5-7 years, not to mention dozens of pitch competitions, hackathons and conferences, including our own. Each promises to connect travel startups with a combination of industry expertise, resources, capital and exposure, and contributes to what is now a robust travel startup support ecosystem. These programs and entities have sprung from intermediaries, suppliers, destinations, investors and independent groups. 

Are these programs and entities producing innovation, supporting it, or harvesting it? Are they seeing ROI on their time and money spent, and what constitutes ROI for them? What are the tangible benefits and trade-offs for travel startups that choose to work with them? This article attempts to answer these questions and more.

Fourteen people were interviewed for this article, including incubator and accelerator managers, early-stage investors, and entrepreneurs who have been through one or more of the programs.