Greek Startups In Tourism Presented
A series of very interesting platforms designed to offer better services and overall experiences to Greece’s visitors were presented by young and ambitious entrepreneurs to an audience of some 300 people at the first meet-up on Greek startups in tourism that took place recently at HUB Events in Athens.
The event was organized by community marketplace dopios.com, in collaboration with 123P and with the assistance of travelplanet24.
Greek startups in tourism
“Dopios”
Are you getting ready for a trip to a city and wondering where a restaurant that suits your taste is located?
Are you wondering if a specific part of the city you intend to visit has a good cell phone reception?
Or do you just need some travel advice on a city?
No need to worry. Just ask a “dopios!”
“Dopios,” which means “local” in Greek, is a community marketplace that aims to connect travelers and locals of a selected destination.
“Dopios is a platform that empowers individuals to connect with others that match their travel style for a unique and personalized travel experience,” founder Alexandros Trimis said.
According to Mr. Trimis, “Dopios” could easily be the third “step” in a traveler’s journey following the booking of an airline ticket and accommodation.
The dopios platform has already kicked off in Athens (Greece) and San Fransisco (US) and will soon launch in London (UK) and Istanbul (Turkey).
And who can be a “dopio?
“Anyone can be a local, from a university student to a retiree,” he said.
“Incrediblue”
As described by founder Antonis Fiorakis, “Incrediblue” is a “tool” to connect boat owners and crew with vacation-goers globally.
“Incrediblue” provides boat listings for travelers to choose the boat that suits them and gives them the chance to interact with the owners.
According to Mr. Fiorakis, an important factor is that vacation-goers will get exactly what they see through the platform.
“Forget brochure photographs… travelers can choose the boat of their preference based on reviews and real images,” he said. The list of boats offered by “Incrediblue” are all professional boats.
“Our aim is for a boat owner to offer an experience to a traveler… Instead of competing on prices, boat owners should compete on offering the best experience,” Mr. Fiorakis said.
At the moment, “Incrediblue” does not provide a skipper for the boat selected by a traveler but has plans to include this option within the platform in a later stage.
“Locish”
“Locish” invites locals to recommend their favorite places to travelers and… make money!
Through the “Locish” platform, founded by Alexis Christodoulou and Yiorgos Zontanos, a traveler can place a request in a specific category such as restaurant, bar, live music, etc. “Locish” then notifies a “like-minded” local to submit his suggestion to the traveler. If the traveler accepts the recommendation then the local gets paid through their “Locish” account.
According to co-founder, Alexis Christodoulou, anyone can apply to become a local expert and “sell” their recommendations as long as they watch their e-mails regularly, as the faster the response, the more chances the recommendation has to get sold.
Having an iPhone is very useful as local experts will be notified through the “Locish” App and recommendations can be given fast and easy. The “Locish” App will launch on 5 March 2013.
“With Locish, travelers get personal with local experts in real time through the app,” Mr. Christodoulou explained.
“Locish” is currently available for visitors in Athens but is planned to expand to another major European city.
“Periploos”
The co-founders of “Periploos,” Antreas Karouzos and Dimitris Shizas, aim for their platform to change the way people travel today.
“Periploos” is a travel planner that helps travelers organize tailor-made travel packages in accordance with a specific budget.
“Periploos is the first travel engine to help travelers organize their ideal travel package with ease,” the founders of the platform said.
“Layerise”
This next new technology startup develops an intelligent sales channel for hotels and hospitality related businesses through personalization technologies and advertising.
“Layerise” analyzes user behavior and context in real-time and serves personalized and targeted content and media that results in higher lead generation and conversion for the hospitality company.
This is a hospitality website widget that “identifies” visitors of a hotel site and “understands” what they want to book and when. “Layerise” then proceeds with personalized booking options adapted in real-time for each unique visitor to the hotel’s website and turns website visitors into hotel guests.
“Layerise” has been founded by a team of three professionals with extensive experience in hospitality, web development and data science.
“We do not sell accommodation directly to guests but trigger guests to book a stay at a hotel integrated with Layerise,” co-founder Akis Laopodis explained.