Co-Founder and CEO, TWIP

Co-Founder and CEO of TWIP—Travel With Interesting People, Lauren A. Koenig is one of the emerging female stars of the travel-technology industry and an expert in the field of travel behaviour. Born in Chicago, Lauren worked for the French Ministry of Education and The International Kitchen before delving into travel psychology and founding TWIP with former Evernote tech wonder Heather Wilde.

By asking the right questions during her years of global enterprise, Lauren hit upon a key gap in travel-tech: 35 million Americans sacrifice leisure travel for fear of traveling alone, yet assuaging that fear is not as simple as offering group excursions. The crux of the problem, she knew, lay in the little-understood fact that people are different when away from home. Only a comprehensive understanding of travel behaviour could empower travellers to find the right companions and experiences, while equipping providers with the means to identify, understand and reach their ideal client base.

Through scientific assessment of a person’s Travanality®, or travel identity, TWIP’s pioneering, patented technology matches travellers to travellers and travellers to experiences, the natural results of which are stimulated demand, personalized adventures, happy travellers, and profitable brands. Guided by Lauren and her impressive team of travel and media veterans, TWIP has earned the 2018 Lufthansa Group Innovation Award, People’s Choice accolades at 2017’s Phocuswright Innovation Summit, and finalist recognition for Max Penfolds’ Maximum Funding.

Lauren is a distinguished alumna of the Women’s StartUp Lab Accelerator in San Francisco and 20/20 Startups Accelerator in NYC, and a frequent speaker on travel behaviour. This year she was the keynote speaker at the Women In Technology Conference at Ball State University and featured expert at the MetaBridge Conference in British Columbia, Canada, the Pangea Dreams Retreat in Amorgos, Greece, the Target Marketing Conference [and Travel Marketing Summit] in New York, NY, and the Nurse Innovation & Entrepreneurship Hackathon & Summit in Boston, MA. Media appearances include Fox, CBS and Inc. Magazine.

In her free time, Lauren indulges in her passion for travel, with favourites including Montreal, Prague, Beirut and South Africa. Lauren lives in New York City.

Session:

Beyond personalisation: Influencing customer behaviour with emotion