To quote the late great journalist, chef, and traveler Anthony Bourdain:

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable…But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”

Bourdain’s words reflect a reverence for the power of travel and exploring the unfamiliar. It is this feeling that inspired Adam Harris to use technology to revolutionize the way we travel today by creating the Cloudbeds software for boutique hotels.

In 2012, Harris’ business partner traveled to Brazil. He struggled to book unique, under-the-radar hotels and realized there was a demand for making small hotel operations more accessible to the public.

As the FIFA World Cup and the Rio Olympic Games loomed on the horizon, the duo saw an opportunity to make Brazil’s independent hotels available to incoming travelers with easy-to-use online software. Hotels that were once invisible to consumers became bookable with a click of a button.

Inspired by the “open table” online reservation service for restaurants, Harris created Cloudbeds for boutique hotels.

Millennials are changing the landscape of travel. Today’s young adults have changed their priorities from accumulating goods to accumulating rich experiences. The boutique hotel stay is part of these “experiences” that Millennials crave, which makes Cloudbeds particularly relevant to young travelers wanting a culturally rich vacation. From staying in upcycled tequila barrels in Mexico to glamping in Yellowstone National Park, unconventional stay experiences can make traveling exponentially richer.

With a passion for exploring and a background traveling to over 50 countries, Harris spoke with MarketScale about using tech to encourage new interactions and inspire cultural bridges, both today and well into the future.

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