After being born and raised on Maui, I moved to the mainland US to attend college in California and experienced a bit of culture shock.
Where are they now? Checking in with our Hot 25 Startups of 2019
11.10.2023 - 15:17 / travelweekly.com / Andrew Lockhead
Between a global pandemic that shut down travel and technological advancements like generative artificial intelligence, travel has experienced an ever-changing landscape over the past half decade.
So as PhocusWire gears up to unveil our Hot 25 Startups for 2024 next month, we’re checking in with the companies who made our lists over the past five years.
In our class of 2019, some have undergone major changes such as Conichi, which was sold to HRS Group in 2019; Journy, which was acquired by Hopper in 2021; and Shep, which was acquired by FlightCentre in 2021.
Others are continuing to grow with similar missions to when they made the Hot 25 in 2019. We reached out to a few of those, including Sanctifly, Stay22, Lumo, Beyond, TravelPerk and GuestReady. Responses have been edited and condensed.
Sanctifly
Sanctifly is a wellness provider for travelers, offering access to fitness, wellness and relaxation facilities at airports around the world. Answers from founder Karl Llewellyn.
In the last five years, our company has … grown by over 500%. Five years ago we had about 200 partners at 60 airports. Today we are at 200 airports with over 4,000 lounge, gym and spa partners. We used the COVID hiatus to make the product better, stronger with more options for travelers to spend their airport downtime. In particular we focused on the four- to six-hour disrupted journey (with) long layovers. Our goal is to become “layover heroes.”
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I accept the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.Looking back, one thing I know now that I wish I knew then is … travelers want sanctuary and space to recreate more than fitness and workouts. It’s always about improving our resilience, on-the-road health and well-being. We do this best when we can get into a calm, comfortable, controlled environment. We still have many gyms, but more than 60% of search is for sanctuary and relaxation spaces, while gyms make up 20%.
The biggest challenge we’ve faced since our founding is … COVID took the wind out of our sails. We had to start building our [monthly recurring revenue] again in 2022.
My advice for early-stage founders is … build your product around the needs of your paying customers – “If I build it, they will come,” is not a strategy.
For the coming year, our priorities are … to integrate with travel companies that want to add value and improved experience to their customer journey.
Stay22
Stay22 is an affiliate revenue platform for ticketing, event planning and travel media publications that aims to monetize their audience’s travel plans. Answers from CEO and co-founder Andrew Lockhead.
In the last five years, our company has … pivoted due to the pandemic and moved its focus from event travelers to
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