When Data Becomes the Core Infrastructure of the Tourism Business Model
KisStartup – curated and analyzed
Global tourism is undergoing a profound restructuring under the impact of technology, especially AI and data platforms. The way tourism operates—from search and booking to on-site experiences and enterprise management—is changing faster than ever. In this decade, travel startups enter the market not with flashy interfaces or heavy marketing alone, but with strong data-processing capabilities, automation, and scalable digital infrastructure.
From KisStartup’s perspective, this shift is not merely about “adopting technology,” but about redefining value creation: data becomes a strategic asset, AI becomes the operating engine, and new business models are built on deep insights into travelers’ behavior, needs, and context. Companies that control data and turn it into products will lead the market; those that remain dependent on traditional tour–ticket–room models will struggle to compete in the long run.
New tech models: Solving real pain points with data and AI
The new generation of travel-tech startups no longer aims to become “super apps” from day one. Instead, they focus on niche problems, solving one or two clear pain points through SaaS platforms combined with marketplaces and AI tools.
Navan (formerly TripActions) is a prime example. Rather than competing with traditional OTAs, it built a corporate travel and expense management solution—an area long underserved. Data from millions of transactions enables automation, cost optimization, and real-time recommendations. Revenue comes from both subscriptions and commissions, creating a hybrid SaaS + transaction model. TravelPerk follows a similar path and has raised over USD 500 million by scaling globally on enterprise data.
In experiences, platforms like GetYourGuide and Klook show how standardizing quality, empowering small local suppliers, and analyzing demand by city, season, and climate can create global-scale marketplaces. They do not just sell tours; they sell “experience distribution infrastructure,” data-driven demand forecasting, and B2B2C connectivity for airlines and OTAs.
Another notable trend is startups optimizing ancillary revenue and operational efficiency for hosts, villas, and resorts. Companies like The Host Co. or point.me focus on micro-value creation—using behavioral data to upsell on-site services or optimize loyalty points—areas where large OTAs are too rigid to compete.
The common denominator, from KisStartup’s view, is clear: successful startups solve real problems, measure value with real data, and turn data into scalable products. This is also a key lesson for Vietnamese tourism businesses: instead of trying to do everything, start with one specific problem, prove value through data, then expand.
Investment trends: Capital still flows to data-capable companies
Although 2025 has seen lower travel-tech investment compared to 2020–2022, several B2B startups with strong data foundations still closed hundred-million-dollar rounds. Deals such as TravelPerk (~USD 200M), Hostaway (USD 365M), and Flyr Labs (USD 295M) show that investors favor recurring revenue, global scalability, and clear AI-native capabilities.
Pure B2C OTA models—high marketing costs, thin margins, weak barriers—are losing appeal. Investors now seek data-driven value creation: demand forecasting, dynamic pricing, customer segmentation, operational optimization, and automation.
This signals a more mature market: tourism is no longer a marketing game, but an infrastructure and data game. To raise capital, startups must prove that their data has economic value—reducing costs or increasing revenue—and can scale across many markets without proportional increases in operating costs.
Business model differentiation: SaaS – transactions – data
Next-generation travel startups build three-layer models: SaaS to standardize processes, marketplaces to enable transactions, and—most importantly—data layers to optimize and personalize. Revenue comes not only from software licenses, but also from revenue sharing, commissions, and service distribution.
Rather than building super apps, each startup focuses on a single problem and solves it so well that it becomes an industry standard. Behavioral, operational, and transaction data form the core competitive advantage. Once a company builds a strong data flywheel, it can expand into new services and become critical industry infrastructure.
This is the path KisStartup believes Vietnam must follow: tourism businesses should not just “do tourism,” but “do tourism data,” treating data as an asset and building new business models on top of it.
KisStartup’s perspective: Data-driven tourism is inevitable for Vietnam
In Vietnam, most tourism businesses—hotels, homestays, DMCs, attractions—still do not treat data as foundational. Customer, behavioral, and spending data are fragmented or not collected at all. As a result, personalization, pricing optimization, marketing efficiency, and participation in global distribution chains remain limited.
According to KisStartup, data-driven tourism is not just a tech trend but a survival strategy for the next 5–10 years. Three critical shifts are needed:
Treat data as a business asset
Data enables deeper customer understanding, demand forecasting, new product creation, and higher value per transaction. Without data, businesses sell “rooms” or “tours.” With data, they sell “needs-based experiences.”
Build new business models from data
Data enables subscriptions for loyal customers, ancillary services, data-sharing partnerships with destinations, and participation in new distribution platforms.
Standardize and digitize operations so data flows continuously
AI and forecasting require clean, structured, and continuous data. This is the foundation for “smart tourism” at destination level and “smart products” at enterprise level.
KisStartup sees a major opportunity for Vietnam: by designing data-driven business models for small players—homestays, eateries, local experience providers—we can build a sustainable, scalable tourism ecosystem that attracts international tech investment.
The future of tourism is a data game—not a room or ticket game
Global trends show that the fastest-growing tourism models all revolve around data. Startups with data outperform those with just good interfaces. Businesses with data outperform those with just inventory. Destinations with data outperform those with scenery alone.
Between 2025 and 2030, tourism will not only undergo digital transformation, but business model transformation—from selling services to selling customer insight. If Vietnam wants to move in step with the world, this is where it must begin.
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