Alaa-I-al-haija-founder-and-ceo-of-aladdinb2b
·
‘Welcome
to the World’ aims to solve problem of high commissions paid to OTAs
·
Touted
as ‘YouTube for tourism’, the site drives commission-free direct bookings
· ‘SmartGuide’ and ‘Road.Travel’ placed second and third, respectively
‘Welcome to the World’ has
been named the first-ever winner of the ATM Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition,
which saw a selection of the region’s most innovative travel and tourism
start-ups deliver pitches on the ATM Travel Tech Stage for the chance to secure
up to $500,000.
A total of 15 finalists gave
presentations in front of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022’s
five-strong panel of industry judges, including: Alaa Ismail Al Haija, Founder
and CEO of AladdinB2B, SalesMENA and the Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition;
Hadi Saeed AlShakhori, Business Incubation Manager at Wa’ed; Walid Tarabih,
Founder and CEO of PLATX, and former advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office of
the UAE; Matthew Gardiner, Founder of A1 AI; and Bashar Sami El-Khasawneh,
Associate Professor at Khalifa University.
The judges assessed pitches
from a range of start-ups, which – in addition to ‘Welcome to the World’ –
included AirportAssist.com, Elves, Gauvendi, Hotailors, Lykos, Octoos,
On Arrival, Road.Travel, SmartGuide, SLF, S-Rate, Teamatix, Telgani and
Travelexic.
‘Welcome to the World’
aims to solve the problem of high rates of commission charged by online travel
agencies (OTA). Described by Founder and CEO Stefanie Schachtschabel as
‘YouTube for tourism’, the platform enables tourism businesses and travel
influencers to drive direct bookings commission-free by sharing videos.
Commenting after the
presentation of her award and cheque, Schachtschabel said: “We are obviously
very happy. We have been working hard to reach where we are today and having
the confidence of so many investors means the world to us. So how do I feel?
Happy, that’s for sure!welcome-to-the-world-atm-draper-aladdin-start-up-competition-winner
“We are in the midst of
our seed round, which means we are onboarding investment. These funds will be
used to build in state-of-the-art technologies, such as artificial
intelligence, to monetise our data, and also to scale our business to the 48
destinations that we are currently targeting,” she added.
‘Welcome to the World’
currently boasts more than 185,000 monthly users, having already attracted
brands such as Anantara Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Hilton
Hotels & Resorts, Accor, Address Hotels + Resorts, W Hotels, Radisson Blu
and Ritz-Carlton Dubai. The investment gained as part of the first ever ATM
Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition follows $264,000 already secured as part of
the firm’s pre-seed round.
After taking first place
at the ATM Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition, ‘Welcome to the World’ will now
have the opportunity to compete for a further $500,000 of investment as part of
hit TV show, Meet the Drapers.
Digital tour guide
platform ‘SmartGuide’ and route marketplace ‘Road.Travel’ came in second and
third place, respectively.
Commenting on the aims of
the competition, AladdinB2B’s Alaa Ismail Al Haija said: “I’m an entrepreneur
myself so I know what it means to have a dream to be successful. The most
important thing is to be supported and to feel that you are not alone. That’s
why we are seeing so much support for entrepreneurs in Dubai today. This
ecosystem is the most important thing and I’m fortunate to be contributing a
little part of it.”
Danielle
Curtis, Exhibition Director ME for Arabian Travel Market,
said: “The ATM Draper-Aladdin Startup Competition is a fantastic initiative,
which we believe will act as a springboard for innovative travel and tourism
companies that are working to reshape our industry for the better. I would like
to offer my congratulations to all of the finalists and in particular to Stefanie
and the rest of the Welcome to the World team.”
On the ATM agenda today, (Wednesday
11 May), SaaS specialist Atlas will host a panel of experts, who will share
insights into how
data is changing airline retailing. Moderated by Brian Staunton,
Atlas’s Chief Commercial Officer, speakers will include Ashish Kumar, Director
Commercial – Flights Booking at Wego Middle East; Mary Li, Founder and CEO of
Atlas; and Yong, Chief Solution Architect at Alibaba Cloud MEA (ATM Travel Tech
Stage).