Face-to-Face: Andrew Cooke, chief operating officer of London & Partners
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Why has London decided to become a global ‘travel tech hub’?
London’s position as a tourism and tech hub means the city is a natural home for the developing travel tech industry. The creation of the Traveltech lab helps fill a gap in the UK’s tech offering, providing a new incubator to support the growth of this sector. London has already created world-changing travel tech firms like lastminute.com and Citymapper; this new facility can help deliver more of the same through supporting up-and-coming start-ups and will help us reach our goal of making London the number one city in the world for travel technology.
What type of start-ups is the hub attracting and why?
We received applications from more than 100 companies for space in the Traveltech lab – from across all aspects of the travel tech industry. The 13 companies that have been selected for the space are quite varied; some are concentrating on developing apps, others on supporting the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events industry (MICEbook) or on providing travel services to Chinese clients (Lulu Trip). This shows there is demand from across the sector for our service.
What role is Gatwick Airport playing as a corporate partner?
Gatwick Airport is the first corporate sponsor of the Traveltech Lab. As a sponsor, it will provide support to the lab (including financial support), helping the development of the travel tech industry in the UK. One benefit of the lab is to connect large existing corporate players in the sector to new innovators, for mutual benefit. The companies want to know about the disruptive technologies that will impact their business, and the start-ups make useful connections.
What will be the benefits of the initiative for the travel and tourism industry?
We want the lab to encourage the development of the travel tech sector so that London becomes the leading city in the world for travel tech start-ups. Travel tech has already been hugely beneficial for the travel and tourism industry, for example by making it far easier for consumers to book holidays or travel through online services. New developments in the sector will create new products and services for consumers, fuelling further demand for what travel and tourism companies offer – boosting the sector as a whole.
What is the anticipated impact of the incubator on the local and national economy once up and running?
Travel tech can provide huge benefits to the local and national economy. Millions of people already regularly use travel tech services when they book holidays or hotels, including through sites such as Expedia, and there is massive scope for this sector to grow further. Companies such as lastminute.com and Skyscanner are examples of UK start-ups that have successfully scaled up, providing substantial returns on investment. There is huge scope for new companies to come on to the scene and achieve similar results – which is what we want to encourage.
Andrew Cooke is chief operating officer of London & Partners, which is the promotional arm for the City of London and a partner in the Traveltech lab.
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