UK – Turneo, a London, UK-based travel tech startup, raised US$2 million in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Underline Ventures.
In conjunction with the funding, Aditya Nidmarti, investor at Bessemer Venture Partners, joined the Board Director at Turneo.
The investment will accelerate Turneo’s mission to revolutionise hospitality by enabling the world’s leading hotels to offer incredible in-destination activities to their guests. In addition to growing the team, the funding will enable expansion into new markets and significant product enhancements.
Founded in 2022 by Matija Marijan, previously Senior Director of Strategy at Expedia, and Fran Kauzlaric, Turneo provides a hospitality platform that enables hotels and resorts’ guests to browse and book in-destination activities and transfers on the hotel website or app.
At the same time, it provides hotels with a single platform where the entire offering of in-house and partner activities is managed.
This includes creating and publishing new activities, partnering with local providers, as well as reviewing activities data, insights and reviews from their guests.
Travellers plan and book activities before arriving at their destination. With Turneo, hotels can finally showcase their destinations and manage the activity offering to their guests.
“This means happier guests, with additional revenue and less operational hassle for hotels. Fran Kauzlaric,” said co-founder of Turneo.
Based on the company’s data from the 2024 Europe summer season, guests who booked activities gave hotels on average 8% higher ratings on review sites.
In addition, recent years have seen growth in the experiences and hotel activities market which is projected to reach US$463 billion by 2030.
Historically, rooms were the main revenue driver for hotels. However, traveller preferences have changed dramatically over the last few years, and only selling rooms isn’t enough.
“Turneo is playing right into this market shift by building a platform for hotels to create, manage and monetise rich experiences for guests seamlessly – whether it is spa treatments or in-destination tours,” Aditya Nidmarti, investor at Bessemer Venture Partners and newly appointed Board Director at Turneo, said.
The company, which was previously recognized as one of the Hot 25 Travel Start-Ups for 2024 by PhocusWire, will also invest in further developing its AI-driven platform to offer even more personalised and efficient travel experiences through hotels.
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