Being one of the most beautiful countries in the world, tourism has long played a huge role in propping up Scotland on the global socio-economic stage.

Even before Covid laid waste to the industry for two years, there was huge optimism in the role of traveltech for furthering the wider tourism sectors ambitions. In fact, investment in British traveltech companies more than doubled between 2015 and 2019.

According to the Traveltech Report 2021 – compiled by Tech Nation and Traveltech for Scotland – Britain boasts a thriving startup scene and strong investment in this particular industry subsector, with more than £1 billion raised by UK traveltech firms over the past three years.

We’ve teamed up with Traveltech for Scotland to explore 15 companies in this dynamic space – from all across Scotland – to keep your eye on.

Biker BnB

Inverness-based Biker BnB recently won £75k in the latest Scottish EDGE 19 round to further expand their niche platform for motorcyclists who want to ensure quality accommodation and services when they travel in Scotland (and further afield).

The team have invested heavily in their tech platform to ensure a high level of customer service, while developing their brand and forming industry partnerships with other like-minded brands.

The company offers motorbike hire, merchandise, an accommodation booking platform, curated bike trips in Scotland, Highland Scrambles, women only tours, and this year they are offering their first Scramble trip in Catalonia in Autumn 2022.

Bookster

Yesterday we announced our partnership with #StripeClimate to reduce our carbon footprint.

You can mitigate your carbon footprint too by signing up with Bookster and Stripe Climate.

Want to find out more about our battle against #ClimateChange?https://t.co/I3uc3X7dDo pic.twitter.com/oI5rxFYExg

— Bookster HQ (@booksterhq) January 26, 2022

Bookster was started in Edinburgh back in 2009 as a way to add a ‘Book Now’ button on to holiday rental websites. Now under the guidance of Managing Director Robin Morris, the company offers a comprehensive property management system for holiday rentals, as well as a channel manager service – all with free onboarding, no set-up fees and no contracts.

The company’s taken extra care to engage with the wider ecosystem through social media, regularly sharing good content for clients and industry.

Bookster is also committed to working to combat the climate crisis, this includes it being one of the first in its sector to sign up to the Tourism Declares initiative, and becoming a partner of Stripe Climate, the world’s first large-scale carbon removal purchase tool, which also directs revenue to new environmental technologies.

Coastr

Navigate the new world of vehicle rentals with Coastr’s connected and #contactless rental ecosystem 📲 💻

Learn how you can improve fleet control and overall security, as well as boost profit and customer engagement by going #keyless and #paperless: https://t.co/AzVPNEB2Wc pic.twitter.com/nZQBRy8kSY

— Coastr (@CoastrOfficial) July 21, 2022

A recent participant in the StartUp Grind Cohort to Silicon Valley, Edinburgh-based Coastr is a technology company in the mobility and travel space, revolutionising the car and van rental experience for operators and end customers through its fully digital vehicle rental management ecosystem.

Coastr provides an all-in-one SaaS platform that digitises fleet management and business operations of vehicle rental businesses through AI and telematics technology. For business and holiday travellers, Coastr’s soon-to-be-released travel app will connect car and van renters to trusted local vehicle rental companies through its digital marketplace.

For-Sight

https://twitter.com/For_Sight/status/1526834980076150784

Since 2007, For-Sight has allowed hospitality accommodation providers – from large groups to independent luxury hotels – to unlock the guest journey with hotel CRM, email marketing and reporting tools.

As well as investing in R&D and continued expansion; it actively collaborates with academic partners and has had a relationship with the University of Edinburgh and University of Stirling for the last four years to source student placements to develop data analytics work.

Co-Founder Allan Nelson sits on the Advisory Panel of Traveltech for Scotland and is an active ambassador for the organisation’s community.

Fuse Mobility

Scotland’s first Road Safety Week (21 – 27 March 2022) – a new initiative from @scotgov and @transcotland – has been launched today. Congratulations to all our clients and partners who have been going through the transportation journey with us since 2011💚 !
#ScotRoadSafetyWeek pic.twitter.com/gXlHhWZYFo

— Fuse Mobility (@fusemobility) March 22, 2022

Fuse Mobility is a Joint Venture Company comprising Ember Technology, David Smith Consulting Limited and SYMPATRIC Ltd, working within the mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) sector since 2011.

The Fife-based company has developed a journey planner tool for Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park and is also trialling The National Park Journey Planner to encourage the use of more sustainable modes of transport including public transport and cycling.

Holibob

Founded in 2019, Holibob operates as a B2B marketplace for tours and experiences. It helps consumer-facing travel and lifestyle brands to access their premium inventory that is instantly bookable. It also enables its B2B travel partners to access an incremental revenue stream, whilst improving their customer’s experience via its curated and personalised content.

As well as recently acquiring TourismSolved, Holibob raised $12 million series A investment.

Hop Software

https://twitter.com/hopsoftware/status/1516779380659400708

As experienced hoteliers, Jon Erasmus and Richard Drummond teamed up with software expert Ronald Tweedie to create a reliable, cost-effective and simple Property Management System to offer an alternative to expensive legacy systems.

Edinburgh-based Hop Software currently offers four different products – Hop PMS, The Hop Text Facility, Hop Academy and The Hop which cover and streamline every facet of property management and hospitality services.

IsleHoliday

Our lovely Managing Director, Rhoda, has been named one of the top 100 Women in tourism by @WITScotland! She's in great company – the fantastic team behind @IslandsPass are also on the list 🥳#womenintourism #lovescottishislands #onlyinscotlandhttps://t.co/TwqS4101jl

— isleHoliday (@IsleHoliday) May 17, 2022

Founded by Rhoda Meek – recently listed in Women in Tourism Top 100 list 2022 – isleHoliday is a Tiree-based booking site, which directly reinvests its revenue into local island communities.

Like other booking sites, isleHoliday will charge commission on every booking taken – however, that commission will not only go towards running the business, but all surplus goes into the Isle Develop Fund.

That fund is focused on supporting small businesses, as well as community and housing projects in the Scottish islands. By keeping profits local, isleHoliday hopes to have a visibly positive impact which will help its communities to thrive for many generations to come. The company wants to make sure that the islands remain a great place to live as well as a great place to visit.

Obvlo

how it started: how it's going: pic.twitter.com/VKWZX11Qbi

— Obvlo. (@obvlohq) March 24, 2022

Obvlo’s mission is to “unlock local hospitality,” starting life early in the pandemic as a Google Sheet of restaurants that were offering takeout to survive lockdown but weren’t on delivery apps due to the high fees. As the company says: “Connecting consumers directly to local businesses is our DNA.”

Now, the Edinburgh and Texas-based company is a hospitality discovery platform powered by a recommendations engine and social features – like the ability to curate and share playlist-style lists of venues.

Obvlo is B2C, however it is now also launching a B2B service which it envisions as a kind of ‘Digital Concierge’. This will be piloted with hotels so that their guests can access personalised, local recommendations for where to go as a visitor wanting to experience a place through the eyes of a local.

Qikserve

Our library of integrations is growing🎉! We have the privilege of working with some of the best this industry has to offer. From payment and POS to loyalty, delivery and more, each integration allows us to offer flexibility, choice and powerful functionality to our customers. pic.twitter.com/xD5EOaWpFK

— QikServe (@QikServe) January 26, 2022

Founded in Edinburgh following a frustrating restaurant experience where founder Daniel Rogers didn’t want to leave his young children to try and get served, QikServe is a growing enterprise platform for guest self-service in hospitality.

Fully integrated into Oracle Hospitality Point of Sale, the omni-channel solution gives customers the ability to order and pay for food and drinks via any digital channel – including self-service kiosks, table tablets, mobile apps and web. Unlike other suppliers to the industry, QikServe charges a flat, monthly fee – there are no commission costs.

The digital ordering platform gives operators access to customer data, as well as marketing and promotion tools. The technology integrates to POS, delivery, allergy management, loyalty and payment providers.

Swurf

Thanks for sharing @digitfyi Exciting times for Team Swurf and our community of Swurfers 🙌🚀

➡️Join the Swurf revolution and apply to become a Host Partner – https://t.co/MIXLfcngoz@StartupGrindSCO @TravelTechScot #startupscotland #traveltech #remotework #workfromanywhere https://t.co/Qos4Os9ajO

— SWURF (@swurf_free) July 6, 2022

Swurf is a free app that allows people to search for welcoming spaces to work in using a filter system with their preferences. The company’s mission is to allow everyone to “work freely”.

The company launched in Edinburgh and is now moving into other UK cities, including Leeds. It has also partnered with the Village Hotels chain and recently with Startup Grind Edinburgh.

Swurf recently secured significant funding from two investors as the business targets global growth.

Skyscanner co-founder Gareth Williams and Anna Lagerqvist Christopherson, co-founder of the award-winning Boda Bar Group in Edinburgh, have both pledged an undisclosed sum to support the startup’s expansion.

The firm also appointed its first director outside Scotland, who will focus on accelerating growth in England.

Total Chatbots

Total Chatbots on Messenger has real conversations and can add a new dimension to your up-sell, cross-sell and lead-generation efforts.

With just a couple of clicks, we can integrate your bot into Facebook Messenger, giving you an automated 24/7 presence on this channel. pic.twitter.com/oqhgJNHT3A

— konversable (@konversable) July 11, 2022

Total Chatbots aim to meet the ever-increasing expectation of customers to receive instant responses to queries.

The Glasgow-based company is working with clients across sectors including the tourism and hospitality industry and is regularly developing new integrations. Total Chatbots offers website chatbots, live chat services and Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp integrations.

Unbaggaged

Founded by Janani Prabhakaran (recently listed in Women in Tourism Top 100 list 2022) and Scottish EDGE winner 2021, Unbaggaged is Scotland’s first baggage transfer network – allowing you to store your bags and enjoy Edinburgh hassle-free. Unbagged offers a bespoke service, picking up and dropping off your luggage on-demand at your convenience.

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Travellers select where, when, and how many bags they need picking up and stored and select a time and location for the return.

Users can also optionally have the driver take them to a further destination after meeting them to pick up or return their bags. Unbaggaged manages the technology and operates the storage point, City Cabs handle the transportation.

Whereverly

So pleased to be part of this years accelerator, working on the important issue of visitor and community experiences, in rural and remote hotspot locations! #CivTech6 https://t.co/HYiIBA857e

— Whereverly (@whereverly) October 12, 2021

Whereverly Ltd offers a tourism technology platform which connects tourists to local culture, businesses and experiences through an app and website. The aim is to have visitors to not just visit but feel connected to the local people and place.

The content on the platform app is managed by members of local groups and communities. The app and website take data from a single database, so there’s no need to input or update the data twice. The app provides information and hidden gems, routes to follow, guided walks to take people off the beaten track. Cultural audio is provided through stories and songs.

Thus far, the Edinburgh-based company has created apps for North Coast 500, Explore Stirling and Highland Discovery. It is working on developing a new data tool to identify “busyness” in areas of Loch Lomond Trossachs National Park, with the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, Stirling Council and Perth & Kinross Council as part of the Civtech 6 Challenge (Challenge 8, Visitor Management).

It has also developed work for the South of Scotland Destination Alliance (including a collaborative data project with the University of Edinburgh) and has recently worked with the newly launched Scottish Islands Passport.

Zudu

At Zudu, we create digital experiences that make users fall in love with your brand.

Find out more about our wide range of services and arrange a consultation with the team today 👉 https://t.co/V1fiGTFO71 pic.twitter.com/V374mlpEws

— Zudu | Innovate. Integrate. Inspire. (@ZuduDigital) June 9, 2022

An award-winning, Dundee-based software development team which has helped over 300 clients worldwide since 2014. Zudu’s team are members of the volunteer platform, Social Good Connect, as well as AWS External Ambassadors for the Get IT Programme which encourages young people to pursue careers in tech.

Zudu’s offerings include the Dundee Recovery Road Map, The Reivers Road App (to explore the Scottish Borders through songs and stories), and Chinese Market Acceleration for Harviestoun Brewery.