World shaper of tomorrow: GetYourGuide leads the travel industry into the future

GetYourGuide turns tourists into travelers. The ETH spin-off that has become the world’s leading marketplace for booking travel experiences—and reached unicorn status along the way—transforms how we turn trips into memories. Co-founder and CEO Johannes Reck told us how GetYourGuide defines the travel industry and what Netflix has to do with the company’s success.

The GetYourGuide co-founders (from left to right): Tao Tao, Pascal Mathis, Johannes Reck, Tobias Rein, and Martin Sieber

“Lost in Beijing” could be the title of the first chapter of the GetYourGuide story. In 2009, after co-founder Johannes landed in Beijing a day earlier than his friend Tao Tao, he aimlessly wandered the streets. When Tao arrived and became Johannes’s local guide, the travel experience changed completely. Back in Zurich, Johannes and Tao decided—together with fellow students Pascal Mathis, Martin Sieber, and Tobias Rein—to change the world of travel with a social network for tour guides. 

After a year of experimenting, the startup eventually found its mission: Creating a platform that provides travelers access to extraordinary experiences and attractions. “Over the years, we have become like Netflix for travelers,” described Johannes the company’s journey. “Netflix started out with DVDs, became a streaming service, and now produces its own shows. That’s exactly what we are doing: After offering tours and experiences, we now also produce unique content, GetYourGuide Originals, and guide travelers to the perfect experiences.” 

“We wanted to build a social network for tour guides. We fine-tuned the idea at the Venturelab course at ETH Zurich, which is still one of the most decisive moments in the company history.” – Johannes Reck

Revolutionizing an industry
“Within a decade, the company has become the world’s leading marketplace for booking travel experiences, and it now employs 550 people in 14 countries around the world. “We went from digitizing a market to defining a market,” explained Johannes. Since 2009, GetYourGuide has raised more than USD 788 million and has sold more than 45 million tickets for experiences on its platform. “We were growing 100% year on year. January and February 2020 produced the best numbers that we ever had in company history,” said Johannes. And then came COVID-19.

Warming up for the next stage
“We went from record numbers to zero revenue within three weeks,” said Johannes. Since then, GetYourGuide has focused on cost-containment measures and acquiring new funds. In October 2020, the company raised EUR 114 million via a convertible loan. Johannes expects the travel industry to recover by 2022, and he wants to hit the ground running after the pandemic: The GetYourGuide team is busy getting ready for the post-vaccine travel rush by creating new experiences that focus on domestic travel and improving the tech infrastructure.
 

“We want to be in the position to not only come out of the pandemic crawling but sprinting.” – Johannes Reck
 

With great power comes great responsibility
The unicorn status, global success, and GetYourGuide’s perseverance have turned the company into a role model for entrepreneurs. However, Johannes is not resting on his laurels and is aware of the responsibility: “It is not a burden; it shows that we are on the right track. The financing and the support ensure that we can do great things for our customers,” he explained. “I am not driven by the valuation of GetYourGuide. What gets me up in the morning is the next feature that we’re launching and the new product line that we’re going into. This is where I can see that impact in real time with customers around the world.” With this approach, it is probably just a matter of time until Netflix gets ousted as the shining example, and startups want to become the GetYourGuide of their industry. 

About World shapers of tomorrow: Startups building our future

The TOP 100 book World shapers of tomorrow: Startups building our future shows the impact of the TOP 100 Swiss Startups over the last 10 years. On 100 pages, the publication features the facts and figures about the startup ecosystem in Switzerland, shows the sectors and geographic distribution, and lists the investors behind Swiss deeptech startups. The book also highlights disruptive companies that changed their industry: Beekeeper, Bestmile, Climeworks, Covagen, DeinDeal, Doodle, GetYourGuide, MindMaze, Scandit, and Piavita. The founders of these startups share anecdotes and discuss their successes, lessons learned, and visions for the future. A selection of 10 verticals illustrates how Swiss deeptech startups transform our lives and help us build a better and more sustainable future in relation to health, longevity, digitalization, and decentralization.
Learn more and download your copy at www.top100startups.swiss/10years.

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