How One Hospitality Startup Ran with On-Demand Lessons Learned from AirBnB

Driven by consumer desires for new experiences, innovative technologies and environmental impacts – travel is changing. Host Sarah Dandashy explores the technologies and logistics that power travel and the brands that build unforgettable experiences.

While travel slowed during the COVID-19 Pandemic, it is poised to break some records in 2021. But, while passengers stayed at home, travel companies were working to offer better services. Two worlds that are seamlessly combining in the travel industry are hospitality and technology.

On this episode of Say Yes To Travel, I talk to David Phillips, Co-Founder and President of Jurny, a hospitality tech company powering seamless and contactless accommodations experiences for guests and property owners. We talked about his career, Jurny, and the travel industry Post-Covid.

Phillips’s career didn’t start in the hospitality or tech industry. His background is business development, but his business career began under the wing of his father at his family business. “It was the exact opposite of nepotism, where my Dad was extra hard on me,” Phillips said.

While he enjoyed the role he had before Jurny, it wasn’t his business. He wanted to use his skillset to build his own business. He loved day trading but was also considering something in the travel industry. His Co-Founder, Luca Zambello,  was in the industry and invited him to spend a day with him. They both found that Phillips’ skillset would work perfectly, and they launched Jurny.

Airbnb taught them that consumers wanted something different when it came to the hospitality industry. They took lessons and inspirations from on-demand services, such as Uber and DoorDash, and sought to apply this to the hotel industry. “We thought if what if we could perfect this, and build almost Uber for apartments, or Uber for hotel rooms,” Phillips said. “A true on-demand, empowering experience, offering full autonomy to the traveler.”