Innovation

 Reveel’s innovation is helping to transform the tourism industry towards a more sustainable future. The innovation in digitalized maps and guides supports the realization of five different sustainable development goals. They have created a new innovation assisting the tourism industry, thus making an impact on SDG 9, which is industry, innovation and infrastructure. Secondly, they have an impact on goal number 11, sustainable cities and communities. For example, the city of Helsinki, one of the most climate friendly cities to visit, is using Reveel’s technology. The use of Reveel’s innovation is likely part of the city’s sustainability strategy. Reveel supports SDG 10, Reduced inequalities, by offering more inclusive visitor experiences for people from different cultures and language groups, as well as people with disabilities. The app and its content are available in 28 different languages and can be made available both in text and audio formats. 

 By helping to reduce the need for paper brochures and single-use products such as local audio-technology, they are supporting goal 13, climate action and goal 12, responsible consumption and production. On their website, Reveel describes how over 300 000 paper brochures have been saved from being printed using their technology.

Inspiration

 Reveel’s story began with the realization that while progress has been made in sustainable travel and smart destinations, there is still a lack of solutions for the digitalization of information sharing at tourist destinations. 

 “When we get to our destination, and visit, for example, old castle ruins or a museum, why is it that we still use analog and outdated solutions? We use paper maps, paper brochures, audio devices with disposable headphones.” - Sebastian Mellblom, CEO & Co-Founder 

 Reveel’s founders thought that digitalization could significantly improve the visitor experience. For example, digital solutions could improve accessibility as the visitor information could easily be made available in several languages. They started to interview destinations to understand the issues and quickly learned that destinations found it challenging to digitalize the visitor experience by themselves. The common challenges included high costs, slow implementation and difficulties related to maintaining and updating the digital solution.  

 “We felt that if everyone shares this issue, why don't we just focus on the technology and build a platform - not for the booking stuff which is already out there, but for when the visitor is on at the site. So for example, if instead of a museum building their own expensive digital solution, they could join Reveel, have the technology ready and convert their old analog paper brochures and and analog ways of displaying information into digital guides that open up in the visitors phones automatically.” - Sebastian Mellblom, CEO & Co-Founder 

Overall impact

On their website, Reveel describes how over 300,000 paper brochures have been left unprinted since implementing Reveel’s innovation at tourist destinations. One concrete example is the city of Helsinki which is measuring the number of brochures they have been able to reduce in their activities. Furthermore, the city of Helsinki has been chosen as the most climate-friendly city to visit several times. These selections happened after they started to use Reveel’s technology. This is most likely not the only reason why the award has been given to Helsinki, but it can surely have a positive effect on the selection as part of their sustainability strategy.  

 Since the app subscription costs less than printing brochures, there are less costs for the client company. In addition to decreasing the environmental effects from printing, there is also less need for waste management, which benefits nature and the environment. 

Since the company is still quite new, the short- and long-term effects are not as impactful as they will be in the future. When Reveel’s technology is implemented in locations with high numbers of visitors, the impact will increase and be significant in reducing single-use products in the travel industry. The effects on communities and inequality have not been measured yet, but the accessibility of information is impactful for various visitor groups. 

Business benefit

Reveel is based on its founders’ vision to modernize the way tourist destinations share information with their visitors. Thus, this innovation is the starting point for the whole company. While their innovation provides benefits for the client companies as well as the environment and society, it has proved to be a successful business idea. When starting the business, the start-up was able to raise around 500,000 euros to start their operations. 

 Reveel currently works with around 100 attractions and destinations in 6 countries. As the innovation is easily scalable, Reveel is planning to expand to new countries with bigger markets, such as France, Spain and Italy. In addition, they are planning to introduce a ticket selling system into their app, expanding from their original business idea. Today Reveel employs 7 people, and they are planning to recruit 2 more people to support the team in Finland. In addition, they have a board with a diverse set of skills to support the company and its future growth.

Social and environmental benefit

For society, Reveel’s innovation can assist with digitalization process. As described by one of the founders, many attractions are finding it challenging to change their ways overnight. Reveel can assist in kickstarting this change towards digitalization and more sustainable practices simultaneously. Reveel wants to assist in making these small changes already in the present moment, rather than in the distant future. Implementing these changes also creates cost savings, which furthermore benefits the client destination. Reveel offers the app content in 28 different languages, making it more accessible to visitors from various countries and cultures. 

For the environment, the less there are brochures, the better. In addition, many destinations offer audio guides with single-use headphones. By enabling the visitors to use their own devices and headphones, the need for single-use technology reduces. This helps to transfer away from single-use products towards more sustainable practices. 

Reveel is planning to include a ticket selling system in their app. Since they have clients that are, for example, UNESCO World Heritage sites, the potential increased revenues through an improved platform can help to fund and preserve these important historical sites. Reveel is planning on expanding globally, so in the future various communities can benefit from their innovation. 

Interview

Sebastian Mellblom, CEO

Watch video on Vimeo