Airbnb-Backed Tiqets Talks AI, Profits, and Scaling Travel Experiences

Tiqets navigated the pandemic better than some rivals thanks to a strategic investment from Airbnb.

"The company has been profitable since last year, meaning there is less need for funding," said CEO Laurens Leurink.

Tiqets sells admission to museums and attractions, but with some twists. It specializes in special early morning or late night entries and getting direct exclusive inventory, partly by selling hardware and software to the attractions.

Tiqets says it's doubling down on global expansion, aiming to bring its curated offerings to more destinations. Leurink spoke with Skift about the company’s growth strategy, including new partnerships and a continued focus on leveraging AI.

Skift: Tiqets has expanded its global reach and formed strategic tie-ups, such as with Sofar Sounds and Klook. What's the thinking behind these partnerships?

Leurink: We're very focused on these distributor and affiliate relationships. If you look at activities, we're seeing some changes in planning. We see that before people decide where to go, they also look at the activity space. I think a lot of our distributed partners are seeing that as well.

Tiqets is focused on having direct contracts with its supply partners. The actual connection to the inventory offered by these supply partners are through different connectivity options: our API, the supplier's API, the supplier's reservation system, booking engines, widgets, etc... T