Confirmation of the business model: Turneo secured a 2 million euro investment from American investors for further expansion

Turneo, a leading startup in the field of tourism with a focus on experiential tourism, has successfully closed an investment round of 2 million euros led by an American fund Bessemer Venture Partners, with the participation of Romanian of Underline Ventures. 

The investment will accelerate Toure's mission to revolutionize the way people book destination activities, and enable the world's leading hotels to offer their guests tours, activities and experiences. In addition to investing in team growth, the investment will enable expansion into new markets and significant product upgrades. 

Founded in 2022, Turneo enables hotels to manage the entire range of activities in the destination in one place. It enables hotel guests to view and book activities and transfers via the hotel's website or application. At the same time, it provides hotels with a unique platform on which the entire offer of hotel activities, as well as the activities of external partners, is managed. This includes creating and publishing new activities, collaborating with local service providers, as well as reviewing and analyzing data and guest reviews. 

Croatia was the "launch" market for Toure, and so far they have cooperated with some of the largest hotel companies in this area, from where they started expanding to the global market. Thus, guests of numerous hotels such as Aminess, Falkensteiner, Liburnija, Maistra, Plava Laguna and many others can book wine tastings, boat tours, balloon flights, as well as activities within the hotel, including spa and wellness, through their own digital stores.

"Tourists today plan and book activities before arriving at the destination, and actually choose the destination based on the activity offer they see.", He said Fran Kauzlarić, co-founder of Turne and emphasized that with Turne, hotels can finally present their destinations to guests and easily manage the offer of activities, while for hotels this means - happier guests, additional income and fewer operational difficulties.

Data from this year's tourist season are fantastic: guests who are booked activities using Tourne technology they gave hotels an average of 8% higher ratings on review sites, and more than two-thirds of guests who booked activities at hotels using Turneo did so online. Activities are also extremely important for extending the tourist season, because guests looking for experiential tourism travel throughout the year.

There has been significant growth in the tours and activities market in recent years, and it is predicted that the market will reach 463 billion dollars until 2030. Turneo predicts that more than one third of that will go through hotels or 172 billion dollars. 

"We are thrilled to have the support of great investors like Bessemer Venture Partners and Underline Ventures. This investment validates the tremendous market potential as well as our vision, allowing us to grow operations, advance technology and establish key partnerships to enable more hotels to offer guests provide amazing activities.", He said Matija Marijan, CEO and co-founder of Tour. 

Bessemer Venture Partners, a global leader in venture capital (venture capital) at an early stage, recognized Turne's potential in tourism, after earlier investments in well-known companies such as Shopify, Toast, LinkedIn, Pinterest i Skype. In addition to capital, the partnership with Bessemer places Turneo at the center of the transformation of the travel industry, where the fund's expertise will contribute to guiding the company towards becoming a global leader in the industry. 

"Historically, rooms have been the main source of revenue for hotels. However, travelers' preferences have changed dramatically in recent years, and just selling rooms is no longer enough. Turneo fits perfectly into this market shift by building a platform that enables hotels to seamlessly create, manage and monetize guest experiences - whether it's spa treatments or destination tours.", He said Aditya Nidmarti, investor from Bessemer Venture Partners and a new member of the Tour's board of directors.

The investment fund, known for its key role in the growth of Shopify, sees Turneo as the next big disruptor in the travel technology space, and the leading software vertical in experiential travel. 

 "Tourneo is uniquely positioned to transform the way people experience travel and how hotels enhance the destinations in which they operate. Toure's focus on destination management, and the growing role hotel companies play in this, is exactly what the tourism industry needs right now. We see the potential of the Tour to revolutionize activities at destinations." he said Alex Ferrara, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, who previously led a Series A investment in Shopify 2010. years. 

With this new capital injection, Turneo plans to strengthen its product offering, increase its global customer base and establish strategic partnerships with visionary global hoteliers.

The company, which was previously recognized as one of the Hot 25 Travel Start-ups for 2024 by PhocusWire, will also invest in the further development of its AI platform to offer even greater personalization of destination activities through hotels.

Turneo is currently expanding its team, hiring developers, designers and other roles. Find more information about open positions at Tour website.