When we go on vacation—especially if we unplug—we come back more relaxed and more productive at our jobs. But strangely enough only 60% of Americans would give up junk food, 40% would give up social media, and a mere 9% would give up their phone—all for one extra day of vacation. And excuses for not taking our vacation days range from not enough money to not having the time. So how does tech fit in? By disrupting all aspects of travel, from booking a ticket to figuring out where to eat on vacation, technology has eased the way we choose to vacation.

Discussing this topic on yesterday’s radio show were Joah Spearman, co-founder of Localeur, a community-based recommendation site; Elvina Beck, founder of Podshare communal hotels; and Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, CEO and President of Celebrity Cruises:

Here are their most interesting tidbits:

How much sleep do you really need: “As a start-up owner, if I get 8 hours of sleep that’s a Saturday for me.” Joah

“I function better with less sleep than more. It’s about power naps.” Elvina

Hotel towel trackers: “Are the trackers worth the price of the towel?” Elvina

“Hotels should use this as a retention policy. I may take a robe if that were a possibility.” Joah

“Why don’t they just put their names on their towels instead of trackers?” Elvina

ELVINA

“I got into this open up your apartment to strangers from my experience with Airbnb in 2009 .”

“Podshare is to combat the hotel experience which is a solitary experience.”

“Cure loneliness with people.”

“We call our guests ‘Podestrians’.”

“It’s Habitat for Humanity with crowdfunding. It’s a community project.”

“America needs a co-living startup.”

“Why pay $300 a night when you can pay $50?”

“Moving to LA, everyone is doing social here. How can one person disrupt the billion dollar travel industry? I had to rely on social to make my mark.”

“Crowdfunding is a beast. You have confidence as a CEO but when you get in the ring, you’re really putting yourself out there.”

“I launched right around the holidays which may or may not have hurt us.”

“Right when I was about to give up, I had 11 days to make my goal, and then TechCrunch put me on the front page of their site with the funniest video. 13,000 hits!”

“Hard work meets opportunity is how crowdfunding works.”

Donate to Podshare here

JOAH

“Our mission is to help people experience local wherever they go.”

“We’ve all been new to a city. Thanks to social media we can connect. But if you don’t have a friend there you need help.”

“We’re not looking for writers we’re looking for locals.”

“We’re in 12 cities in just two years.”

“Millennials are the most influential travelers. 49% of millennials book flights on their smartphone.”

“Men’s Health called us the most influential app. The writer called us out to come to Boston.”

“We felt like we were building something for ourselves.”

“People wanted a friend in every city they went to. Now they have a user generated recommendation built on trust.”

“Being a consumer startup in Austin is different than Silicon Valley. We don’t have as much access to the people who can help.”
“We only raised $150,000 before we launched. And now we’ve gone to $1.2 million.”

“I met one of our investors at a wedding.”

LISA LUTOFF-PERLO, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, joined in to discuss cruising and the recent partnership with Randi Zuckerberg, Take Care of YourSelfie

“I remember talking to people 30 years ago,  telling them to completely disconnect on a cruise and people would love it and sign up for it. If you said that now no one would take a cruise.”
“Pendulums swing two ways. We have to get back to the balance in our lives.”

“I was struggling, trying to think what I wanted to be. I wanted something fun and exciting and I got into the hotel industry.”

“I got a job from a help-wanted ad for a group cruise sales agency in Boston. Because I was selling cruises, I got a sales job at Royal Caribbean.”

“Sometimes I forget I’m a woman, it’s never factored into my career. But I have been recognized. I know many women have not.”

“I’m the first woman CEO in the cruise industry.”

“What I hear is that oftentimes women are not supportive of other woman. I couldn’t disagree more.”

“Flying is natural for people, staying in hotels is natural, but cruising is not natural for people–yet.”

“At Royal Caribbean I helped launch the Quantum of the Seas, the first smart ship.”

“When you can enable [technology] on a cruise ship for the first time it’s quite disruptive.”

“Destination, wellness, culinary, design and guest flow, are our top priorities for our guests.”

“We were the first brand to create iLounges and create modern environments for our guests to share technology and learn technology.”

“Rome was really special for me. I was touched in a way that I didn’t expect.”

Learn more about the Take Care of YourSelfie promotion with Randi Zuckerberg.

Join Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg on SiriusXM next week on SiriusXM 111 on Wednesdays, 12 EST/9 PST.

Comments

comments