Brisbane-based youth travel experience company Travello has raised AUD$10M in a Series B round, which will be used to solidify its position as Australia’s leading tour and travel experiences brand for millennials and capture the pent-up demand for travel.
Travello has seen exponential bookings growth of more than 1,000 per cent since borders reopened, driven by a domestic travel market.
The company is now seeing a strong return of inbound international travellers, with bookings from more than 60 countries in September 2022.
Travello Co-Founder and COO Mark Cantoni said: “We are now seven times bigger than what we were pre-COVID, almost entirely from domestic travellers.”
“Capturing a domestic audience has been fantastic, but we are really excited to get internationals back as they stay longer and spend more, especially on tours and activities.”
Many youth travel brands, such as STA and Universal Traveller (Student Flights), did not survive the pandemic, so the lack of competitors presents a unique opportunity for Travello to capture market share.
Travello Co-Founder and CEO Ryan Hanley said: “The ‘travel experiences’ vertical is the biggest opportunity in travel and will see significant growth in both the near and long term.”
“For context, around 75 per cent of flights and accommodation are booked online, but only 25 per cent of tours and activities – that’s a very exciting growth opportunity.
“One of our biggest competitors is the pamphlet wall in the lobby or a hotel, so Travello’s digital-first play uniquely positions us to capture the growth potential this market offers.
“We are currently growing at 25 per cent monthly and have recorded over 1,000 per cent growth in bookings.”
The investment round was led by Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), with further funding coming from Paspalis Innovation Investment Fund.
Paspalis CEO Harley Paroulakis said: “Our investment in Travello gets us into the global online ‘experiences vertical’, which we believe Travello can dominate in the coming years ahead. They’re a great team with a fast-growing track record.”
“We acquired Backpacker Deals last year, and that was a great move, so this funding will allow us to look at similar acquisitions while also accelerating our growth and expansion into both new regions and categories, like outbound multi-day tours,” Mr Hanly added.
For more info, head to experiences.travelloapp.com
