TourismInnovation

From the perspective of an innovation ecosystem like KisStartup, travel tech is not merely about “building a travel app” or “digitizing bookings”. At its core, it is a challenge of designing business models based on data, value flows, and scalability in an industry characterized by thin margins and strong dependence on seasonality, policy, and consumer behavior.

1. Global travel tech: from transaction platforms to data and operations platforms

Over the past decade, the dominant business models in global travel tech have revolved around commissions and transaction fees. OTAs, travel marketplaces, and booking platforms grew rapidly thanks to their ability to aggregate demand, standardize experiences, and optimize distribution costs for suppliers. However, this model has also revealed its limits: fierce competition, high marketing costs, heavy reliance on scale, and vulnerability during market downturns.

A notable shift in recent years is the move from “earning per booking” to “earning across the entire travel lifecycle”. Subscriptions, B2B SaaS, APIs, anonymized data, post-booking revenue, and white-label models are increasingly becoming more sustainable revenue sources, less dependent on pure traffic. Travel tech is no longer just about selling tickets, but about becoming the operational infrastructure behind the tourism industry.

2. Common models in the Vietnamese context

In Vietnam, simply “copying” global OTA models is highly risky. The domestic market is moderate in size, average spending remains relatively low, while international platforms already dominate in brand recognition, data, and budgets. Pure commission-based models easily fall into price wars and cash-burning cycles.

Subscription-based B2C models are also difficult unless the added value is very clear. Vietnamese users are accustomed to “free – indirect payment” models, while willingness to pay is higher among businesses, destinations, and service providers.

By contrast, B2B SaaS, data, and APIs remain a largely untapped space. Tens of thousands of small and medium tourism businesses, homestays, community-based tourism initiatives, and local tour operators lack tools for operations management, customer data analysis, dynamic pricing, digital marketing, and channel integration. This is a gap where Vietnamese travel tech startups can compete more effectively than global platforms.

3. Positioning Vietnamese travel tech within national tourism strategy

Vietnam’s tourism strategy emphasizes green tourism, community-based tourism, local experiences, visitor dispersion, higher spending, and longer stays. This requires travel tech to go beyond booking optimization and instead help local ecosystems create and retain value.

In this context, suitable business models should not start with the question “what percentage do we take per transaction?”, but rather: who does the travel tech help make better decisions, which costs does it reduce, which revenues does it increase, and what data is generated in the process?

4. Strategic directions for Vietnamese travel tech

First, prioritize B2B and B2G2B models. Instead of competing head-on with OTAs, Vietnamese travel tech can provide SaaS tools for local tourism businesses, destinations, community tourism cooperatives, or local governments managing tourism data. Revenue can come from subscriptions, add-on modules, and implementation services, rather than short-term booking volume.

Second, design hybrid models from the start. A planner or discovery platform can be free for end users, while monetizing through affiliates, anonymized data, APIs for partners, or fees for visibility in curated experience packages. Hybrid models help startups survive early stages and unlock “hidden” revenue streams with higher margins.

Third, treat data as a product, not just a by-product. Behavioral, seasonal, pricing, demand, and experience feedback data—when standardized and anonymized—can become valuable insights for businesses, destinations, and policymakers. This aligns well with Vietnam’s data-driven tourism direction and creates long-term competitive advantages.

Fourth, tightly integrate sustainability and inclusiveness. Travel tech can generate revenue by measuring impact, providing certifications, ESG reporting, experience traceability, or smart visitor distribution. These values are hard to replicate and well-suited to community-based tourism and remote destinations—areas where Vietnam has strong advantages.

Finally, do not start with technology—start with the business model. Many travel tech startups fail because they build beautiful apps but cannot answer the question: “who pays, and what do they pay for?” In a more cautious venture capital environment, clear, multi-stream revenue models tied to real needs of businesses and localities will determine survival.

5. KisStartup’s perspective

From its experience working alongside tourism enterprises, agricultural businesses, and local destinations, KisStartup believes Vietnamese travel tech must shift from a “service booking platform” mindset to a “capability-building platform” approach. Those who help local businesses better understand their customers, operate more effectively, and sell higher-value offerings will build more sustainable models.

In the next 5–10 years, successful Vietnamese travel tech may not be OTA unicorns, but rather “invisible infrastructures” supporting green tourism, community-based tourism, and data-driven tourism—where revenues are quiet, but resilient and hard to replace.

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KisStartup – Compiled and Analyzed

Global tourism is entering a phase of deep transformation, where new business models are no longer centered solely on traditional tours, tickets, and hotel rooms. Instead, revenue streams are expanding into data, micro-experiences, access rights, digital content, and large-scale personalized services. At the heart of this shift is technology—particularly AI, digital platforms, extended reality (XR), big data, and “phygital” operating models that blend physical and digital experiences. These innovations emerge as travelers increasingly expect tailored, sustainable, convenient, and community-oriented journeys.

1. Travel super-apps and digital platforms: From inspiration to post-trip support in one closed loop

The new generation of OTAs and travel super-apps is evolving from simple “booking platforms” into integrated ecosystems covering the entire travel lifecycle. Travelers can find inspiration through short videos and AI-driven recommendations, auto-generate itineraries, book services, make payments, and receive post-trip support—all within a single app. AI enables seamless personalization by analyzing preferences, behavior, weather, and budget to create tailored journeys. Social-integrated travel platforms are also rising, allowing users to “watch – like – book instantly,” turning social commerce into a powerful travel sales channel.

Rather than competing directly with major OTAs, many startups adopt a B2B2C strategy—selling APIs, white-label booking systems, and AI tools to boutique hotels, DMCs, and small destinations, enabling digital participation without heavy infrastructure investment.

2. Travel subscriptions and the rise of “Travel as a Service”

Subscription consumption models are entering tourism, creating what some call the “Netflix of travel.” Users pay monthly or annually for access to discounted hotel rates, fixed annual stays, cheaper flights, or exclusive travel clubs. Airlines, hotel chains, and OTAs leverage subscriptions to generate stable year-round revenue, reduce seasonality, and increase loyalty.

Beyond products, the model is shifting toward selling access: airport lounges, wellness retreats, nomad communities, creative workshops, and concierge services. As tourism becomes an experience economy, value lies not in individual services but in exclusivity and community quality.

3. Micro-experiences, niche tourism, and the rise of local platforms

Post-pandemic travelers increasingly seek authentic, short, and local experiences. Platforms connecting visitors with local hosts—craft workshops, farm tours, cooking classes, market visits, nature experiences, and wellness retreats—are booming globally.

Micro-tours lasting 2–4 hours suit business travelers, transit passengers, or urban residents seeking brief escapes. AI plays a key role by continuously analyzing context to recommend relevant activities based on location, weather, and past behavior, boosting conversion rates and enriching destination value chains.

4. The digital travel era: VR/AR, gaming, and phygital models

Virtual and augmented reality are transforming how travelers engage with destinations. Museums, heritage sites, and cities now sell VR/360° tours and paid digital events, often linked to upselling strategies—virtual previews that lead to physical bookings, workshops, or digital souvenirs such as NFTs and in-game items.

Meanwhile, tourism linked to gaming and e-sports is expanding rapidly. Gaming-optimized hotels, international e-sports events, and game festivals are driving next-generation MICE tourism, with revenue extending beyond tickets to room bundles, entertainment services, and digital content.

On-site, AR recreates historical narratives, offers real-time guidance, and blends physical–digital environments, opening new revenue streams from content licensing and in-space digital advertising.

5. Smart tourism and the expansion of B2G/B2B models

Cities and destinations are deploying smart tourism platforms to manage visitor flows, analyze behavior, control crowds, and operate e-ticketing systems. Technology is becoming core infrastructure for sustainable tourism management.

Tech companies monetize through B2G contracts, system operations, data analytics, and digital marketing services. At the same time, Mobility-as-a-Service enables travelers to access public transport, on-demand buses, and shared mobility within a single app—offering optimized routes and unified payments while supporting low-carbon tourism.

6. Sustainability, digital nomads, and purpose-driven travel: New traveler values

Sustainable tourism is shifting from a marketing highlight to an operational standard. Platforms now allow travelers to check green ratings, choose low-carbon tours, calculate and offset emissions. Revenue comes not only from booking commissions but also ESG consulting for tourism businesses.

Simultaneously, the digital nomad movement fuels demand for long-stay accommodation, co-living/co-working models, flexible visas, and “work-from-anywhere” packages—supported by subscriptions, long-term bundles, and local partnerships.

Alongside this is the rise of purpose-driven tourism: volunteering, healing retreats, learning bootcamps, and work–study–experience models. This fast-growing segment values personal meaning and social impact as much as the journey itself.

Tourism is shifting from a service industry to a data–experience–platform economy

Technology trends are not only reshaping traveler behavior but fundamentally transforming tourism business models. Competition is no longer about price, but about ecosystems, content, data, personalization, and sustainability.

Destinations, companies, and startups that effectively leverage AI, digital platforms, data, and agile product thinking will lead the tourism market in the coming decade.

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