Achievement of The Year Finalist: On resilience and making difficult decisions - TourRadar's story

This episodes features an exciting conversation on how TourRadar adapted to the crisis brough by COVID-19, and managed to recover and grow the company despite uncertain times.

Jul 18, 2024

Transcript

In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas discusses with Chris Wade, Founding Partner at Isomer Capital, and Travis Pittman, co-founder and CEO of TourRadar, one of the finalists in the Achievement of the Year category at this year’s European VC Awards.

TourRadar is an Organized Adventure Platform, offering the world’s largest selection of multi-day adventures worldwide. TourRadar’s online platform seamlessly connects travelers and travel agents with 2,500 multi-day operators, offering 50,000 adventures in more than 160 countries globally.

Travis has raised $60M from Speedinvest, Hoxton Ventures, and Cherry Ventures and, in 2018, raised a C round led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV). Isomer Capital and LGT also joined this round. The company’s GMV grew to 9 figures in 2019, then 2020 started very well with all-time high monthly revenues until Feb 2020 when COVID-19 came.

To ensure the business's survival, they made significant cuts to their workforce and reduced salaries. Travis emphasized the importance of transparency in communication during uncertain times. Despite the difficulties, TourRadar was able to recover and is now back at a revenue level above pre-COVID levels and more profitable. They have also expanded their product offerings, particularly in the payments and affiliate networks areas.

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Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Background of TourRadar
10:49 Pre-COVID Success and Funding Journey
15:06 Understanding and Improving Unit Economics
23:50 Prioritizing Customer Support and Making Difficult Decisions
26:14 Adapting and Navigating Through the Crisis
36:00 Transparency and Communication in Uncertain Times
40:13 Expanding Product Offerings: Payments and Affiliate Networks
48:14 The Future of TourRadar: Mobile App Development and Search Experience
53:44 Prioritizing Mental Health and the Role of Supportive Investors

✍️ Key Take Aways

TourRadar is a platform for organized adventures, offering multi-day travel experiences around the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the travel industry, particularly for companies like TourRadar that rely heavily on international bookings.
TourRadar implemented strategies such as offering credits for future tours and focusing on customer support to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
The company made difficult decisions, including reducing staff, to ensure its survival during the crisis.
Understanding and improving unit economics was crucial for TourRadar's success, including reducing discounting and focusing on higher-margin experiences.
TourRadar's ability to adapt and make quick decisions helped it navigate through the challenging period and maintain customer satisfaction. Transparency in communication is crucial during times of uncertainty.
Making difficult decisions, such as workforce cuts and salary reductions, can help a company survive challenging times.
TourRadar was able to recover and is now back at a revenue level above pre-COVID levels and more profitable.
They expanded their product offerings, particularly in the payments and affiliate networks areas.
TourRadar is focused on mobile app development and reimagining the search experience.
Mental health is important for founders, and supportive investors can make a significant difference.

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