Who we are
Associazione Startup Turismo is the only player that represent travel startups in Italy. We started from below and our approach is the same in everything we build. We gather more than 130 vertical startup in tourism, in all stages, we have 13 local representatives and we are continuing our growth. We build synergies between the old and the new economy. Our mission is to create a network between startup founders, big players in travel industry, investors and institutions in order to create synergies and partnerships. We do researches both on a national and international level in order to analyze the status of the travel startups and their needs.
OUR ACTIVITIES
We are engaged in building a positive environment per our associates’ initiatives thanks to the exchanges we build with institutional makers. We encourage the culture of entrepreneurship, promote innovation and the building of a strong network between startups.
Public relation
We represent the interests of our members and offer them visibility through the organization and participation to fairs, workshops and events.
Lobbying
We do lobbying actions on the political system, bringing the needs of our associates to the decision-making tables of national and European institutions.
Networking
We are committed to creating a network between start-up founders, industry associations, institutions and companies of the travel industry.
The Association
It’s very important for us to represent the panorama of travel start-ups in a democratic, heterogeneous and representative way.
Startup
We are committed to creating a network between start-up founders, industry associations, institutions and companies of the travel industry.
Enablers
We put to system incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, institutions, business angels and professional service providers to help entrepreneurs scale up.
Sponsors
We collaborate with industrial partners, sponsors and other stakeholders in the Italian travel sector to encourage the growth of associated startups
Local Ambassadors
We’ve created a regional network of representatives, in order to ensure a widespread presence at national level
Board & Team
We act strategically and operationally to support the associated startups day by day
Research
Every year we carry out a survey for the associates in order to monitor and measure the health of the ecosystem of the travel startups in Italy. This research is based on the availability of our members in providing data, which are collected with a questionnaire and processed in an aggregate manner. The objective of the survey is to measure both the financial aspects and investment strategies of the associated startups, as well as the business model aspects, commercial strategies and technologies adopted by the travel startups themselves. We are supported by the Observatory Digital Innovation of Polimi (Politecnico of Milan) in Milan that, in besides ensuring the quality of the survey, help us spread the results of the research.
Our Story
We were born in 2013 from the confrontation between some founders of startups in the travel area united by the desire to share experiences, criticisms and contacts. It all starts with a facebook post: you have to group up, get to know each other. To this request, 30 startups adhere, following two successive meetings, one in Milan and the other in Rome, up to a weekend on a boat. It is precisely on that weekend that we discuss the meetings just held and we begin to talk about "association", or rather, to create something to govern the enthusiasm of previous initiatives. From then on it’s an avalanche that moves very fast. The rest is recent history.
