\ninvestor and co-founder and CEO of Directo<\/a>, a travel co-pilot that finds and
\ncompares direct booking rates in real time as users search the web for travel
\ndeals.<\/p>\n
According to Becerril, many investors are guilty of
\n\u201cbuying the hype.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a long list of post-hype travel
\nstartups that raised and crashed hard, a history that explains why many VCs shy
\naway from the sector, despite its massive potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Quote\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/icon-quote.svg\" "\\"Quote\\"\/"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n
Investors make mistakes. All. The. Time. It’s part of the job\u2014the mission isn\u2019t to not make mistakes, it\u2019s to be right when it matters most.<\/p>\n
Gaurav Tuli, F-Prime Capital<\/p>\n
Too many investors apply sales-as-a-service
\nor marketplace playbooks to travel, he believes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTravel is fragmented, seasonal,
\noperationally complex and often non-repeatable. Supply is deeply local, and
\nlogistics are heavy. I\u2019ve seen it repeatedly: VCs backing operationally intensive
\nbusinesses at software multiples, only to face the reality that these models
\nsimply don\u2019t scale in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investors often value the wrong things, Becerril
\nbelieves.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccess to supply, deep networks and
\nexecutional know-how are frequently undervalued. Travel is a mature and
\nfiercely competitive space, one of the first industries to go online. Unlike
\nnewer categories, it doesn\u2019t reward naive disruption. Founders with domain
\nexpertise, especially in B2B travel, have a far higher chance of succeeding. Supplier
\nrelationships, contracting cycles and system integrations take years to build.
\nIn this industry, being an outsider can be deadly.\u201d<\/p>\n
This complexity is part of the reason that even
\nexperienced investors in the space get it wrong, said F-Prime\u2019s Tuli.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we pass, it’s often because we\u2019ve
\nunderestimated how much great teams can expand their addressable market through
\nproduct velocity and strong distribution, like we’ve seen with Lighthouse and
\nCanary. When we invest and miss, it\u2019s usually because we backed a great team,
\nbut the market itself was too structurally challenged. Sometimes, no matter how
\ngood the team is, the market just isn’t ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patience and focus<\/p>\n