How Ai-driven Content, Strategic Acquisitions, And Government Support Are Shaping The Future Of Travel

Saturday, July 26, 2025

In this exclusive interview, Iñigo Valenzuela, CEO of Smartvel, shares nan singular travel of transforming a mini startup into 1 of Europe’s starring TravelTech companies. From overcoming early challenges successful product-market fresh and securing backing to navigating nan seismic shifts brought connected by nan COVID-19 pandemic, Iñigo reveals nan pivotal moments that shaped Smartvel’s success. He discusses really Smartvel’s AI-driven contented solutions person revolutionized destination content, its strategical acquisitions of ArrivalGuides and Avuxi, and really authorities support successful Spain is fueling invention successful traveler accessibility. Iñigo besides looks ahead, shedding ray connected nan early of recreation technology, and really Smartvel plans to proceed starring nan complaint successful a quickly evolving industry.

Smartvel, a starring contented and guides business successful Europe, faced galore challenges connected its travel from its humble beginnings successful a car shed successful 2018 to its existent success. The main situation successful nan TravelTech abstraction was uncovering Product Market Fit (PMF), arsenic nan institution struggled pinch talent acquisition and funding, peculiarly successful nan B2B assemblage wherever customer demands are high. However, nan COVID-19 pandemic became a turning point, astir forcing nan institution to close. But Smartvel managed to pivot, creating a solution that became a world reference for providing COVID-related recreation information. This helped nan institution summation financial stableness and pull Tier 1 customers. However, arsenic nan pandemic subsided, nan institution was forced to pivot again, making acquisitions and adjusting to support affirmative EBITDA.

Smartvel’s world description into markets for illustration nan US, India, and Southeast Asia has been successful owed to its AI-driven, curated contented solution. The company’s contented caters to divers taste and marketplace needs, pinch section nuances being easy addressed done customer feedback. Acquisitions specified arsenic ArrivalGuides and Avuxi person expanded Smartvel’s offerings, providing much curated contented and introducing geo-relevant maps for OTAs and edifice chains. These acquisitions person allowed Smartvel to create caller products and synergies, specified arsenic a tailored Avuxi type for TMCs.

Smartvel’s AI exertion ensures real-time accuracy by processing immense amounts of unstructured data, utilizing “workers” that cleanable and consolidate accusation to supply nan astir important content. The company’s scalable exertion has earned recognition, specified arsenic Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50, owed to accordant income maturation and its expertise to accommodate to evolving customer needs.

Spain’s authorities has funded Smartvel to heighten its Traveler Support products for group pinch disabilities, a task aimed astatine making recreation much accessible. Looking ahead, Smartvel focuses connected leveraging geo-targeted content, helping brands enactment visible successful nan competitory recreation industry, and expanding its trading solutions to enactment up of nan curve successful nan recreation tech space.

From starting Smartvel successful a car shed successful 2018 to becoming Europe’s starring contented and guides business, what were nan biggest challenges and turning points connected your journey?

Finding nan Product Market Fit (PMF) is nan existent situation for immoderate TravelTech, of course, talent and backing are particularly difficult astatine nan very beginning, particulary erstwhile nan time-to-market is long, and that usage to beryllium nan lawsuit successful B2B businesses, were launching an MVP is not easy arsenic nan customer is very demanding.  So, I will opportunity uncovering nan PMF, and evolving it.

For america COVID was a turning point; we were very adjacent to closing nan company, but we managed to create a solution that became a world reference to pass astir COVID requirements. That helped america a lot, not only financially, but besides getting into applicable Tier1 customers. The “problem” came erstwhile Covid disappeared, we had to pivot again and make immoderate acquisitions to support nan institution connected affirmative EBITDA. So … a existent rollercoaster.

Smartvel has precocious expanded into nan U.S., India, and Southeast Asia. How do you accommodate your destination contented solutions to cater to specified divers taste and marketplace needs?

At nan end, our contented is afloat curated, pinch AI devices to automate nan process, nan contented needs are akin successful astir 80-90% for anyone, location are immoderate section nuances, but are easy addressed talking pinch section customers. 

With acquisitions for illustration ArrivalGuides and Avuxi, really has Smartvel’s merchandise offering evolved, and what caller capabilities do these integrations bring to your clients?

We spot that immoderate acquisition has to lucifer 2 conditions for us: Strategic fresh and financial fit. Both companies execute those conditions. With ArrivalGuides we summation much curated contented and much customers successful nan US and APAC, and pinch Avuxi a caller class for us, that was Geo relevance Maps for OTAs and Hotel chains.  There are clear synergies betwixt each nan customers, and we are creating caller products wrong some companies to adhd much worth to our customers.  For illustration we are creating an Avuxi type for TMCs, to summation nan take of nan edifice programmes of nan corporates. 

How does Smartvel’s AI-driven destination contented solution guarantee real-time accuracy and relevancy, particularly erstwhile dealing pinch move events for illustration concerts, sports, aliases festivals?

We created a exertion that won respective prizes successful AI, Machine Learning and Big Data earlier nan GenAI world. What we did was a solution that was reference nan net and processing tons of unstructured information done a very analyzable operation of “workers”. The workers are programms that person that information to get a last dataset pinch nan value needed. For illustration 1 worker takes distant duplications, and consolidates each nan information successful 1 elemental event.  One of nan workers (the past one) checks nan value of nan content. When is beneath a definite level we conscionable return it away. At nan extremity is not astir having everything, is astir having nan astir important ones, and capable content. It has been +10 twelvemonth travel pinch thousands of lines of codification .

Smartvel was recognized successful Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50. What factors do you judge make your exertion peculiarly scalable successful nan competitory recreation tech market?

This has been an grant that we are really proud of. They measured galore factors, being income maturation being nan astir important. We deliberation that addressing existent pains is what makes you fly, besides nan capacity of creating caller solutions, and evolving your merchandise according to caller needs. It is for illustration “walking down nan escalator”, if you do not move upwards, you will get down rather fast.

Spain’s authorities precocious funded Smartvel arsenic portion of its digitalization push successful tourism. How will this finance heighten your exertion and effect Spain’s tourism industry?

Yes, this is simply a very bully point, we are honoured to person authorities backing to amended our conception of “Traveler Support” products for analyzable needs successful recreation requirements for group pinch disabilities. It is simply a task pinch psyche wherever we will alteration recreation for galore people. I americium besides happy to opportunity that our existent customers besides want to subordinate this initiative. 

With recreation becoming progressively experience-driven, really do you spot Smartvel’s contented solutions influencing traveler behaviour and nan measurement group take destinations?

Travel is astir building memories, and that is what we thief with. Our attraction is to support our customers to waste more, leveraging “what to do”, “why this spot is bully for me” and “discovering places”. This areas of content, positive playing nan crippled successful nan caller GEO world pinch afloat MCP capabilities for our contented are nan cardinal pillars of our strategy. 

Looking ahead, what innovations aliases trends successful recreation tech are you astir excited about, and really is Smartvel positioning itself to enactment up successful nan adjacent 5 years?

The problem we look is that location are truthful galore opportunities and we person to take 2-3 caller initiatives per year.  For america nan GEO world is wherever we deliberation nan conflict is going to beryllium played. Brands are terrified of losing visibility against agents successful nan adjacent future, and helping them successful this area is going to beryllium key.  Last, but not least,  increasing our trading solutions and taking advantage of what is coming adjacent is for america besides a priority. 

« Back to Page