Endeavor Launches Travel & Tourism Vertical Community with Industry Tour in Madrid

This June, Endeavor Entrepreneurs from 17 companies in the Travel and Tourism (T&T) sector gathered in Madrid for a two-day tour and program, featuring site visits, and intimate discussions and sessions with industry leaders. The tour, held June 13-14 and hosted by Endeavor Spain, marked the official launch of a new T&T vertical community, a global Endeavor initiative that aims to better service, connect and transform entrepreneurs and their businesses by offering industry-specific programming.

Endeavor organizes industry tours across a wide variety of verticals — including Fintech, Food & Beverage, Healthcare, and more — bringing together the top entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping the future of a sector. The T&T tour in Madrid convened over 60 attendees from 15 countries, hailing from the Endeavor network and local T&T sector.

Spain is the world’s second most popular tourism destination, receiving about 75 million international tourists per year, and tourism is the nation’s leading source of income, making Madrid an ideal backdrop for the industry tour. Over two days, the attendees came together through focused discussion sections with distinguished speakers and moderators in the field, from companies including Iberostar, Vueling, Volotea, Facebook Iberia, Bloomberg, Cabify and Renfe.

On Wednesday, sessions were held on the multiplier effect in the travel sector as well as strategic partnerships between startups and established players. On Thursday, the attendees participated in sessions on trends and market opportunities, followed by investment strategies and designing experiences for the 21st century traveler. These panels were followed by breakout sessions on the value of data and the importance of digital transformation in T&T. Between sessions were networking coffee breaks and speeches from numerous senior executives in the space.

Travel and Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries with a global economic contribution of over $7.6 trillion in 2016. It is also one of the most dynamic and changing industry verticals in the world, underscoring the importance of stakeholders staying up to date with what shapes travel experiences and measuring what travelers value most. Connections among entrepreneurs create game-changing synergies that can be transformative for future generations, for the ecosystem and for society at large. The T&T tour allowed for a space to connect, inspire, learn and better understand how Endeavor can better support entrepreneurs and key players in the sector.

View more photos from the event here.