Analysis of the business models of the startups operating in tourism and cultural sectors

The literature underlines as the tourism, the cultural goods and activities and the art markets are continuously changing as technology drives new opportunities. Both the demand and the supply of the tourism market are witnessing numerous changes, among which the rise of better informed and empowered customers and the growing role of consumer reviews and social media in the decision-making process. In addition to that, manifold authors agree that the tourism sector is one of the most affected by the peer-to-peer sharing. The cultural goods and activities market includes those activities aimed at the conservation of cultural goods and the fruition and diffusion of culture. In order to achieve a fruition of a cultural space that is sustainable, it is necessary to realize smart solutions to enrich visitors experience, shifting from traditional models, focused on a passive role of the visitors, to highly interactive experience. Finally, the art market is characterized by a growth in the number of e-commerce art platforms and by an increasing interest in art investment funds. As Startups are considered the major drivers of innovation, the analysis of the Startups ecosystem allows to identify which of the trends highlighted in the literature are considered most innovative by Startups, and for this reason pursued by them. The analysis that has been conducted over the Startups ecosystem is therefore consistent with the desire of identifying the most significant trends at international and national level. The aim of the analysis is therefore to understand the business models characterizing national and international Startups that are operating in the tourism, cultural goods and activities and art sectors. The analysis has been conducted considered two samples: the first sample is constituted by national and international funded Startups and the second by Italian Startups. The main information collected have been classified in four categories: general information, founders’ information, business model and economic variables. The most relevant information has been obtained from the investigation of the business model category. It was in fact possible identify which key activities the Startups are performing and the main differences that exist between funded and Italian Startups. It result therefore that the most performed activity by funded and Italian tourism Startups is the booking and ticketing, that is also performed by the majority of the funded cultural tourism Startups. Instead, Italian cultural tourism Startups aim principally at the enhancement of visitors’ experience on-site. To conclude, the main activity conducted by art funded Startups is the online sale of works of art while Italian Startups dedicate much of their attention also to the crowdfunding activity. Together with the key activities, it was possible to investigate also the technological trends characterizing the Startups.