Recap from September's Edinburgh TravelTech Meetup: Exploring Sports and Wellness Travel

What a great evening at our latest TravelTech Meetup at Edinburgh Futures Institute last September. We explored the growing intersection between sports, wellness, travel and technology, and it was brilliant to bring together people from across these sectors to share ideas, challenges and opportunities.

Thank you to our contributors

• Swellbase: booking and operations software for adventure and outdoor activity businesses
• Tethered: a Scottish-themed sleep and relaxation app
• SportsTech Scotland: the community connecting founders, investors and sports organisations in Scotland’s sports tech ecosystem
• MotionLab Ventures: a free accelerator for Scottish founders building sport and wellbeing tech

What we talked about

• How technology is changing sports travel, from ticketing and fan experience to trip planning and destination discovery
• What’s driving the growth of wellness tourism, and where AI fits in
• How destinations can get value from major sporting events beyond the event itself
• Where the innovation opportunities sit as these sectors converge

A huge thank you to everyone who came along and contributed to the conversation. The discussion highlighted just how much potential there is at the intersection of these industries, from new visitor experiences and active travel to wellness tourism, sports technology and the role of innovation in shaping the future of travel.

Thank you to our contributors for sharing what they’re working on and giving us a glimpse into how technology is being used to create new experiences and opportunities across sport, wellness and travel.

And of course, thank you to everyone who asked questions, shared their own experiences and stayed on for the conversations afterwards. The community is what makes these meetups work.

About Edinburgh Futures Institute

Our meetups are hosted at Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) at the University of Edinburgh. EFI’s tourism, travel and festivals work uses design, futures thinking and data-driven innovation to help the sector collaborate locally and globally, make the most of data and new technologies, and make more sustainable choices, tackling challenges such as net zero, workforce and skills, AI and funding.

That work includes the Traveltech Innovation Hub, which connects industry, startups, investors and university researchers, as well as the Scottish Tourism Data Partnership, executive education, postgraduate courses, student challenge projects, and hot desks and office space for organisations in the sector.

— See you at our next event!