India's 10 Best Travel Tech Companies to watch in 2020

Then and Now: The Metamorphosis of the Travel Industry It’s an undeniable fact that technology has changed the way a person lives his life. From buying property online, selling utensils, videoconferencing to perform a surgery to marketing content, everything can be done through a single touch. While all this technological advancement has leveraged the entire world, travel and tourism is no exception. Before getting into the future of how travel experience is on the spree to adopt changes, let us rewind our memories back to the generation of our forefathers. At that time, people had little or no knowledge about a place. They had to travel and then explore their likes and dislike. The percentage of people frequently travelling was considerably low. There is no harm to say that a person’s world can be expanded with the expansion of his knowledge. Speaking about travelling, today, we can first explore our options, take a virtual tour and then set out on the journey. From booking hotels and accommodations, booking flight tickets to planning an entire itinerary, travelling has become an easy and fun task. Currently, the travel and tourism industry has opened up the entire world for travellers to explore and experience beautiful destinations to make wonderful lifetime memories. However, this wouldn’t be entirely possible without the advancement in technology. Let’s say you want to book a tour. A few decades ago, you had to go to a travel agent then convey your requirements and accordingly he would provide you with the best package. But, today, there are various operating and booking systems that assist you in booking a tour through a reliable travel agent to fulfil your travel needs. Another classic example is that of the usage of maps. In the olden times, people used the maps while travelling. But, today, we have got online maps. Online maps have actually been a blessing in disguise. Just mark the places you want to visit and voila, you are already at your destination! In India, there are many companies who are well established as well as emerging with some innovative tech ideas to provide seamless user experience to the tourists. There are various platforms which help users select the right package and destination according to their budget, the climatic conditions, travel duration and other aspects. Apart from online assistance in planning the tour, there are various platforms that ensure the safety of tourists. These online portals or platforms provide quick assistance and one-click call to the emergency department. In our edition of India's 10 Best Travel Tech Companies To Watch-2020, we have showcased some extraordinary ideas. On the cover, we have QuaQua whose aim is to deliver real and immersive travel experiences through storytelling, that inspires people to travel. Apart from this, we have featured Gabbit Trans System whose system helps tourists to get various tourism services that are available nearby to the tourist’s location; Holidify has been simplifying travel planning for people across the globe through a full-stack online platform; India Assist works on improving the travel experience of people visiting India by providing an on-call ‘Assistance & Distress management’ service. Along with this, we are happy to feature Pay4Biz, a travel technology startup, that allows B2B retailers to book travel tickets along with recharges, money transfer and utility payments all under a single panel. Technogram helps its customers generate leads while creating customer engagement which ensures that a long-lasting bond is formed. We have also featured an interview with Mayank Kukreja and Anish Khadiya, the co-founders of ITILITE. We would also like to mention Rodeo Travel Technologies, Trivo and Travelstop for providing exceptional customer services and leading the travel industry ahead. In this edition, we have also included an article - Virtual Reality: The Future of Travel and Tourism written by one of our writers. Happy Reading!