Why testing is always right, even when it goes wrong
Testing is where solutions step out of the conceptual phase and into the unpredictability of the real world. It’s not just about validating what you think works; it’s about discovering what you don’t know yet. Testing is where ideas are challenged, refined, strengthened, and maybe even scrapped.
But testing isn’t always straightforward. The XNTC experience highlights that successful testing lives in paradox: you need focus and flexibility, structure and room for failure, commitment to your idea and openness to abandoning it. Test too early, and surface-level issues may dominate feedback. Test too late, and unchallenged ideas risk becoming overdeveloped without proof of value.
The tourism industry proved to be a great, and extreme place for testing. It’s not bogged down by heavy compliance, which gave us room to try out new approaches, but it is also incredibly challenging as it is an industry which deals primarily with immediate business concerns, so, finding ways to make cybersecurity feel accessible and worth their time was critical.
… in conversation with Eskil Sørensen, CEO & Founder, Cybercue. Read the full interview here.
You need to test in the real world, which in this case involves a tourism industry sometimes characterised by tight margins and risk-averse decision makers. While some solutions solve problems that the tourism industry and businesses already recognise, other solutions address emerging challenges or needs that the industry has yet to understand and feel. Testing the latter solutions can be a difficult sell in a sector that is relationship-driven, resource-constrained, and hesitant to take risks on unproven ideas.
In this chapter, we explore different approaches to testing: From designing the right test and identifying the optimal test environment, to the challenges of matchmaking with the tourism industry. We examine the nuances of testing completely new solutions — born out of a hackathon — and validating, perhaps introducing, more mature solutions to new markets.
We’ll look at different approaches to testing, matchmaking with the industry and bridging the gap between solutions and the sometimes-cautious tourism industry, and finally, we will dive deep into the XNTC experiences of real-world test examples across different stages of solution and market readiness, in a variety of industry partnerships and collaborations.
QUICK OVERVIEW: XNTC Testing Solutions
A quick overview of the main XNTC test activities:
Name of startup | Overall x-Nordic challenge | Test purpose | Origin country & Test market |
Snotra (hackathon winner) | Sustainable business models | Develop & test MVP for AI-powered ESG reporting for tourism SMEs | Iceland / Sweden |
Cybercue | Digitalisation & tech | Adapt and test cybersecurity product for tourism industry awareness and feedback | Denmark / Denmark |
TiimoApp | Inclusivity & accessibility | Integrate and test individual planner tool for business travellers / event delegates with neurodivergent needs | Denmark / Denmark |
Cappy | Work attraction & retention: Seasonality | Adapt tool from other industries for financial wellness to test for impact on employee retention and engagement in tourism – especially for seasonal workers. | Sweden/Sweden |
All Gravy | Workforce attraction & retention: Younger generations | Adapt tool from other industries for financial wellness to test for impact on employee retention and engagement in tourism – especially for younger workers. | Denmark/Nordics |
FasterForward | Accessibility | Test simple non-tech models for motivating the market. | Sweden/Sweden |
THE TEST OF TESTING FOR TOURISM INNOVATION
Testing is not a one-size-fits-all process. Whether exploring a completely new concept, validating an MVP, or fine-tuning an established product, the test method chosen should align with testing goals and the stage of innovation. Some tests aim to uncover awareness or validate assumptions, while others assess a solution’s fit or readiness for the market.
Here is a list of approaches to designing tests for tourism innovation. This is again not an exhaustive list, and some of the approaches overlap and are certainly complementary to each other. All of these approaches have been applied in one shape or form throughout the XNTC programme:
Discovery Testing
Discovery testing explores the problem space and potential solutions to uncover unknowns and validate assumptions. This means to understand the context, user needs, and challenges in more depth, before committing to a solution.
- Focus: Identifying and uncovering real problems within the industry
- Purpose: Explore untested assumptions and validate whether a problem exists or is significant enough to solve.
- Approach:
- Conduct qualitative research through interviews, workshops, or surveys.
- Explore user pain points, behaviors, and trends.
- Look for signals of unmet needs or hidden opportunities.
- Stage: Very early stage; often before a solution is even developed.
Awareness Testing
- Focus: Assessing whether stakeholders recognise the problem you aim to solve.
- Purpose: Validate industry awareness and determine if education or framing is required before introducing the solution.
- Approach:
- Surveys, focus groups, and stakeholder interviews to measure awareness.
- Use pilots or presentations to highlight the problem's urgency.
- Identify gaps where stakeholders don’t yet “see” the problem or its impact.
- Stage: Early stage; after identifying a problem and before investing heavily in solution development.
Experimentation
- Focus: Testing creative or unproven solutions to uncover new opportunities or applications.
- Purpose: Challenge assumptions, explore innovative ideas, and stretch the boundaries of a solution’s use cases.
- Approach:
- Design small-scale, low-risk experiments to test hypotheses.
- Introduce solutions to unexpected or adjacent markets to assess applicability.
- Use “fail fast” strategies to learn and pivot quickly based on results.
- Stage: Flexible, can occur at any stage, especially when tackling complex or emerging challenges.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) & Prototyping
- Focus: Delivering a simple, functional version of the product with minimal features.
- Purpose: Validate core functionality, determine user interest, and avoid overbuilding.
- Approach:
- Launch a basic version of the product.
- Test with a small group of target users to assess value and collect feedback.
- Prioritize only essential features that address the core problem.
- Stage: Early to mid-stage, when you need validation before scaling up.
Iterative Prototyping
- Focus: Refining a product through repeated cycles of feedback, testing, and adjustments.
- Purpose: Align product with diverse market needs, improve usability, and optimise adoption.
- Approach:
- Build successive prototypes.
- Collect targeted feedback at each stage and implement incremental changes.
- Test regionally or across specific user segments to adapt to requirements.
- Stage: Mid to late stage, when refining features or scaling to new contexts.
Feedback Testing
- Focus: Collecting insights and reactions from users interacting with a product or concept.
- Purpose: Gather feedback, build trust, and identify barriers to adoption.
- Approach:
- Use pilots, beta tests, or focus groups to introduce the product to stakeholders.
- Collect structured and informal feedback on usability, functionality, and user satisfaction.
- Address challenges or areas for improvement based on feedback.
- Stage: Mid-stage, after a prototype or MVP exists but before full-scale launch.
Market Validation
- Focus: Confirming that the product has demand, viability, and market fit.
- Purpose: Validate whether the solution solves a real problem and resonates with the target market.
- Approach:
- Conduct pilot projects or trials with real businesses to assess demand.
- Measure adoption rates, willingness to pay, and value delivery.
- Identify market potential through usage metrics and customer feedback.
- Stage: Later stage, when moving from prototype to product launch.
Curious for more test inspiration? See Strategyzer’s field guide for Testing Business Ideas! |
WHEN TESTING GOT REAL
As the XNTC programme kickstarted testing solutions, most of the testing methods and approaches described above were applied in different contexts and combinations.
Before diving into the learnings of testing, the below describes the different testing approaches put into practice together with startups.
From Hackathon to MVP
Following their success as the XNTC hackathon winner, Snotra focused on developing and testing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) through iterative prototyping. Early-stage concepts like Snotra rely on continuous stakeholder feedback to validate feasibility and refine market fit.
The approach involved creating a streamlined version of the product and testing it with a select group of tourism businesses to evaluate its value, identify key functionalities, and gather insights for further development.
Adapting Existing Solutions to Tourism
With startups like Cappy and All Gravy, the XNTC testing focused on matchmaking these existing solutions with established tourism stakeholders across the Nordics. The goal was to gather real-world feedback and further validate their products’ relevance to the tourism industry.
Testing approaches included pilots, feedback loops, and industry trials to refine solutions for their new context. Importantly, much of the dialogue with stakeholders also centered around discovery and awareness — helping the tourism industry recognise how these solutions could address their specific challenges.
In the case of All Gravy, for example, direct engagement with stakeholders allowed the team to listen to specific industry needs and adapt their product accordingly — adapting in a way that made their solution more readily appealing for the matched tourism business.
A Much-Needed Solution for An Unaware Market
With Cybercue, the XNTC testing focused on embedding an existing cybersecurity solution into the tourism sector — a market, which quickly revealed very low awareness of cyber risks. The aim was to validate the product’s relevance and demonstrate its value while building industry recognition for the problem.
Testing approaches included testing with tourism businesses, simulating active use cases to validate fit and value, collecting qualitative insights to identify barriers to adoption and value, and refine solutions.
Testing for Inclusion and Awareness
With Tiimo App, XNTC testing began with a focus on feedback testing, exploring if and how the planner tool for neurodivergent individuals could support event delegates in attending industry events, and hence also support neuroinclusive event design.
The testing approach included a pilot trial during a big industry event to gather feedback through targeted surveys. However, findings revealed a need for discovery and awareness testing within Nordic tourism – to gain a better understanding of user needs, increase market awareness of the potential of inclusive design.
FINDINGS THAT PASSED THE TEST
This chapter explores the real-life experiences of startups testing their innovations in the tourism industry, highlighting four key challenges they faced during the XNTC process.
While not every test of the XNTC was a success in the traditional sense (some tests never made it to the actual testing), each test tracks offered valuable insights and lessons for the startups, the industry, and future programs like XNTC.
In this chapter, we will highlight those lessons and insights in four main sections of how to…
- Build from Scratch
Understanding the hurdles of creating something entirely new, from validating early concepts, coming together as a new team, to engaging tourism businesses without a fully realized product. - Design for Inclusion
From addressing the needs of neurodivergent individuals to fostering accessible and equitable tourism experiences, we explore what it means not only to design solutions for inclusion, but also test for it. - Create Awareness in an Unaware Market
Discover how startups tackle urgent but overlooked challenges, creating awareness and building industry buy-in to drive adoption and investment. - Make or break the Matchmaking
Discover the challenge of aligning startup solutions with tourism industry needs, where adaptability and active listening can make or break a good match.
FINDINGS THAT PASSED THE TEST
This chapter explores the real-life experiences of startups testing their innovations in the tourism industry, highlighting four key challenges they faced during the XNTC process.
While not every test of the XNTC was a success in the traditional sense (some tests never made it to the actual testing), each test tracks offered valuable insights and lessons for the startups, the industry, and future programs like XNTC.
In this chapter, we will highlight those lessons and insights in four main sections of how to…
- Build from Scratch
Understanding the hurdles of creating something entirely new, from validating early concepts, coming together as a new team, to engaging tourism businesses without a fully realized product. - Design for Inclusion
From addressing the needs of neurodivergent individuals to fostering accessible and equitable tourism experiences, we explore what it means not only to design solutions for inclusion, but also test for it. - Create Awareness in an Unaware Market
Discover how startups tackle urgent but overlooked challenges, creating awareness and building industry buy-in to drive adoption and investment. - Make or break the Matchmaking
Discover the challenge of aligning startup solutions with tourism industry needs, where adaptability and active listening can make or break a good match.
1. BUILDING FROM SCRATCH
From Scratch with Snotra
Snotra was born from the XNTC hackathon in Iceland, where the team came together around an idea for an AI-powered ESG reporting tool for tourism SMEs. Reaching the testing phase, Snotra faced a common challenge: How to engage users in tourism and hospitality when your product isn’t fully functional?
While Snotra’s MVP wasn’t ready for direct testing, the team focused on understanding potential users' workflows, challenges, and how their tool could add value. Their solution? Develop a beta version and test the concept with hotels to explore its real-world potential.
Building from scratch meant letting go of perfection and focus on building alongside the industry, adapting to the industry’s needs, and learning at every step.
3 Steps to Testing in Beta:
- Build something: The team created a beta version of their tool through iterative internal workshops, with guidance from mentors and experts.
- Measure what’s going on: The team held demo sessions with hotels, showcasing the beta version, discussing functionality, and exploring potential applications.
- Learn and adapt: Feedback from demos led to product refinements, shifting focus from data collection to training and reporting tools that aligned better with user needs.
In conversation with Vicente Carro , Co-Founder of Snotra
What’s it like doing live demos?
The focus during demos isn’t just showing the platform – we carefully demonstrate how and which specific features can help solve the industry’s problems. For example, big companies may need auditing capabilities, whilst smaller ones might focus on simple compliance tools. We’ve been very attentive to this.
What do you do with feedback from demos and clients?
We evaluate feedback carefully to see if it aligns with our vision for Snotra. It’s not about blindly implementing every suggestion but using it to refine hypotheses and iterate. It’s a fast process – we make sure we don’t fall in love with an idea. If something doesn’t work, we pivot and focus on what does.
How do you decide when an idea is worth keeping?
As a developer, I can become very focused on creating an MVP and evolving it into the final product. I’m trying a new approach… Instead, constantly questioning if what you’re building truly solves the customer’s needs in a scalable way. Don’t fall in love with your idea – trash it if necessary and rebuild until it’s become more “right”.
So how much has Snotra evolved from the initial idea you created at the hackathon, and what elements from that original version are still proving useful?
The core idea – helping tourism companies comply with sustainability requirements – has stayed consistent. But everything around it has shifted. When we started, we assumed the main challenge would be solving compliance issues like data collection. Through industry interviews, we actually learnt that wasn’t the case. Most businesses weren’t even aware of upcoming regulations or the problems they might face. Some went from complete ignorance to panic during those conversations!
What advice would you give to someone participating in a hackathon for the first time?
Show up. Just go. Even if you don’t think you have anything to contribute, you never know what might happen. The first time I attended a hackathon, I simply showed up, and it turned out my knowledge aligned perfectly with the solution we developed. When I went to the XNTC hackathon I told my wife I wasn’t sure why I was going!
What challenges have you faced in taking Snotra beyond the hackathon, and how are you navigating them?
To be honest, the biggest challenge has been balancing our work on Snotra with full-time jobs. Scheduling was tough and ultimately led to us scaling down from three team members to two.
What was it like coming together as “strangers” at a hackathon and immediately diving into an innovation process?
[Two of us] weren’t total strangers when we met at the XNTC hackathon – we’d met at a previous hackathon. We did have another team member we met for the first time there, and I remember being cautious about potential team dynamics. We went ahead, but over time we couldn’t align priorities, and that’s when challenges started surfacing, and we decided to part ways with that team member.
What would be your advice for other startups coming from hackathons with these challenges?
If you’re serious about pursuing a project like this, you have to accept there’s little time off. It’s a constant hustle, a weird balance between working to support your current life and building the thing that could become your future. Ideally, you’d have funding or a salary to focus entirely on the project, but most startups don’t start there. You have to put in the work to reach that level of maturity. You need momentum. Regular meetings and consistent progress are crucial otherwise your project will lose steam and die.
What has your experience been like working with the tourism industry?
Surprisingly positive. Everyone has been eager to talk with us, which isn’t always the norm in startups. In Iceland especially, there’s been a lot of openness, and bigger companies already recognize the need for sustainability compliance. The urgency for smaller businesses is harder to create – it needs to come from within the industry.
What’s next for Snotra?
We’re focused on scaling responsibly and preparing for legislative changes that’s going to impact the tourism industry. We want to make sustainability compliance straightforward for businesses, whatever their size. We want Snotra to bridge the gap between regulations and businesses that are actually complying.
From Scratch: In summary
Snotra’s journey highlights the reality that great ideas alone don’t build successful startups – consistent guidance, industry connections, and iterative validation are just as crucial. The XNTC program provided Snotra with the scaffolding to navigate the challenging early stages, ensuring focus, accountability, and market alignment.
Sustained support, not just a single event, is what empowers ideas to transform into scalable businesses. The transition from hackathon to business requires more than enthusiasm. It demands structure, mentorship, and a network willing to test, challenge, and eventually embrace new solutions.
2. DESIGN FOR INCLUSION
Accessibility was identified in the XNTC problem phase as one of the Nordic tourism industry’s pressing challenges. As the sector evolves, there’s also growing recognition that inclusive design goes beyond physical accessibility to encompass a broader range of diverse needs. From sensory-friendly environments to tools that assist with cognitive challenges, creating inclusive tourism experiences is essential for ensuring no traveller feels left behind.
One area that has previously been overlooked is neurodivergence and designing for neuroinclusivity. Neurodivergent individuals — estimated to make up around 20% of the global population — frequently encounter barriers like sensory overload, rigid schedules, and difficulties in unpredictable environments. These challenges can turn everyday tourism experiences, such as attending professional and leisure events, or visiting museums, into overwhelming and stressful encounters.
Despite the Nordic region’s reputation for equality and progressive values, its tourism sector doesn’t consistently translate these principles into practice.
Universal Design: A Foundation for Inclusive Tourism Innovation
Universal design starts with diversity at its core, creating solutions that cater to the widest range of people—regardless of ability, background, or circumstance. It ensures accessibility isn’t an afterthought but a guiding principle.
For the tourism industry, this approach is both logical and impactful. Designing services to accommodate everyone, including individuals with disabilities, families with young children, and the elderly, broadens potential visitor numbers and enhances overall satisfaction.
By embedding universal design into innovation processes and new solutions, Nordic tourism can expand its audience while strengthening its commitment to inclusivity and ensuring every visitor feels equally welcomed.
What Did Testing for Inclusion look like?
XNTC partnered with Tiimo, a daily planning app designed for neurodivergent individuals. Together, XNTC and Tiimo set out to explore how such a tool as Tiimo could specifically support event attendees and business travelers in navigating and participating more effectively in professional events.
Research by EventWell® revealed that 85% of neurodivergent event attendees opt out of events due to fears of being triggered, overwhelmed, or unwell. This insight informed the core focus for testing: How could Tiimo help event delegates attend, navigate, and fully engage in events?
XNTC collaborated with TechBBQ as a testbed, a major tech and startup conference in Copenhagen. Attendees were invited to use Tiimo for scheduling and planning their participation, followed by post-event surveys to assess the app's impact. However, participation rates were lower than expected, and the test highlighted two key challenges:
- Visibility in a crowded environment: TechBBQ is a large, fast-paced event where it’s challenging to capture delegates’ attention amidst a sea of competing digital tools and resources.
- Unfamiliarity with neuroinclusivity: The terms "neuroinclusivity" and "neurodivergence" are still relatively new and perhaps not very familiar within the Nordics, which may have contributed to the limited interest in participating in the test.
In the end, the main focus of the test shifted to awareness testing. Tiimo was joined by two other neuroinclusive startups to present their work; Nuance and Mental Assistant alongside leading international examples and research insights:
- Alison Brooks, Vice President, Destination Experience & Advocacy with Visit Mesa in Arizona, shared their approach to destination development as the world’s first autism-certified destination.
- Associate Professor Carina Lomberg from DTU Entrepreneurship presented research on neurodiversity in entrepreneurship.
IN CONVERSATION WITH TIIMO
Exploring neuroinclusivity, universal design and tourism with Tiimo co-founder and CEO, Helene Lassen Nørlem:
What is your perspective on the tourism market? Is it an area of interest for Tiimo?
Yes, of course. Tourism hasn’t really focused on neurodiversity before. This mirrors a general societal trend: Only in the most recent years have people started becoming more aware of neurodiversity and how widespread it is. Neurodivergence is often an invisible disability, and it’s not always clear what it is or how to best support or accommodate neurodivergent people. There’s a lot of opportunity to do better.
How can the tourism industry do better and accommodate such diverse needs?
It depends a lot on what part of tourism you’re working on, but the starting point is recognising that change is needed and taking action to explore what’s possible. For instance, in the hotel industry, this could involve adding a question during booking to ask guests if they have specific needs. This first step is just literally about gaining an understanding of neurodivergence – what it means, the challenges people face and identifying opportunities to offer better support.
It’s been proven that when you make changes for a specific group, you end up improving the experience for everyone. For example, in schools, designing classrooms and teaching methods to support neurodivergent children has been shown to benefit all students because of things like a more structured approach or calm lighting – this is better for all children. Universal design is a great example of how focusing on specific needs leads to broader benefits.
Have any travelers used your app?
A user once got in touch with us and shared that they were able to travel for the first time thanks to the app. They started by Googling pictures of all the places they planned to visit, then uploaded those images into Tiimo. From there, they broke their trip into small, manageable activities. For neurodivergent people, even if they’ve Googled images, it’s hard to recall the photos later. By putting them in the app, they could use it as a preparation tool and a visual map of their day.
This traveler essentially structured their own experience with Tiimo. But it highlights how destinations or hotels could help by sharing clear, detailed photos of e.g. where to check in, who will greet them, and what to expect at each stage. Knowing what’s coming is so important for neurodivergent people.
What was it like testing Tiimo at TechBBQ?
Very few people signed up to test Tiimo at TechBBQ, but there’s a learning there too. Maybe it’s because TechBBQ is already an overwhelming event, with a lot happening. But TechBBQ also offers the Brella app for scheduling, which many attendees were already using alongside their personal calendars. In hindsight, it would have been better to integrate Tiimo with the tools already in use at TechBBQ.
It’s been proven that when you make changes for a specific group, you end up improving the experience for everyone.
Helene Lassen Nørlem, co-founder and CEO, Tiimo
So how would you integrate Tiimo with something like Brella?
Ideally it would actually work the other way around - Tiimo would import key information from Brella, but everything would stay within Tiimo. Users could mark what they wanted to do, and Tiimo would show them what to prioritise and how to structure their schedule. Of course, integrations like this are very technical and tricky to implement.
How do you make decisions about where to focus Tiimo’s resources?
We always ask: Where can we help the most people? Where do we meet the most needs, right here and now? Right now, we’re focusing on building the product for our end-users and strengthening the app that way. Integrating with other tools, like Brella, would only make sense if we were sure a lot of people would find value in it.
With a small team, it’s tough to find the best way to test something new. There’s always a tension between trying new things but against the worry that what if no one ends up using it? Our overall mission is to help as many people as possible, so we focus on reaching the most users.
At TechBBQ, the test was focused on the so-called MICE-segment (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions). Why should this part of tourism take neurodiversity very seriously?
If MICE don’t start to focus on how to accommodate neurodivergent people, they risk missing out on incredible talent. If you think about conferences and events – it is about collaboration, bringing people together to accomplish things. If these meeting spaces don’t start to better accommodate neurodivergent individuals, they will continue to miss out on the contribution of brilliant minds.
Best Practice for Neuroinclusive Destinations
The growing global focus on neuroinclusivity marks a significant shift in how destinations and tourism businesses approach accessibility. According to a recent BBC report, over 300 businesses and three destinations have earned Autism-Certified status. Leading this movement is Visit Mesa, the world’s first fully certified autism-friendly destination.
Visit Mesa’s efforts were highlighted during the XNTC event at TechBBQ, showcasing how prioritizing neuroinclusivity is not only a moral responsibility but also a strategic opportunity to attract and welcome diverse travelers. Here are some key initiatives that have positioned Mesa as a leader in inclusive tourism:
- Certified Sensory Guides: Detailed sensory guides provide visitors with crucial information about sensory inputs at various attractions. These guides empower visitors to anticipate and manage sensory experiences, ensuring a more comfortable and enjoyable visit.
- Autism GeoTour: Partnering with Geocaching HQ, Visit Mesa launched the Autism GeoTour (FT48C)—a hide-and-seek travel quest that engages travelers on the autism spectrum. Using GPS devices or mobile apps, participants search for hidden geocaches designed with neurodivergent individuals in mind, offering a playful and interactive experience.
- Community Training: In collaboration with the City of Mesa and the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Visit Mesa has spearheaded training programs for local businesses and civic organizations. These programs equip businesses—whether it’s a coffee shop or an amusement park—with the tools to better accommodate neurodivergent travelers, creating a genuinely supportive environment.
- Innovative Funding Initiatives: Moving beyond traditional funding streams, Visit Mesa introduced Spectrum, an IPA beer, with a portion of proceeds allocated to the Mesa Regional Foundation for Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion. This creative approach not only raises funds but also promotes awareness of neuroinclusivity.
Visit Mesa’s example demonstrates how destinations can turn inclusion into action, bridging moral imperatives with economic and strategic gains. By embracing innovative initiatives, they’ve positioned themselves as a global leader in inclusive tourism while paving the way for other destinations to follow.
Designing for Inclusion: In Summary
Testing with Tiimo as part of the XNTC revealed key takeaways for advancing inclusion in tourism innovation:
- Awareness Comes First: Neuroinclusivity remains a new concept for many. Building awareness is crucial for driving engagement and adoption.
- Universal Design Works: Inclusive solutions don’t just benefit specific groups—they enhance the experience for all travelers.
- Tailor Your Testing: Tests must align with user habits and environments to generate meaningful results.
For the Nordic tourism industry to lead, inclusion must move from aspiration to action, with universal design as a cornerstone of innovation.
3. CREATE AWARENESS IN AN UNAWARE MARKET
During the XNTC tests, the challenge wasn’t just refining products — in some cases, it was convincing the tourism industry and businesses to act on challenges perceived as ‘future challenges’ - like requirements for sustainability reporting and protecting your business from a potential cybersecurity threat.
The approach in these cases was to make the risks tangible, highlight the benefits, and drive action now rather than later. Here is how this was approached as part of the XNTC testing:
Challenge 1: ESG Reporting – Coming to Your Destination Soon!
Snotra, an AI-powered ESG reporting and training tool for tourism SMEs – also described above, faced a key obstacle: Timing. The legislative push driving adoption - Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) - isn’t fully enforceable until 2025/2026. For many tourism businesses, this made the problem feel more distant and less urgent.
How Snotra Approached This Challenge:
- Highlighting Consequences:
Snotra didn’t just explain their product; they made the risks of inaction clear. By drawing comparisons to GDPR compliance, they illustrated how CSRD is another non-negotiable regulation - and failing to act could result in hefty fines. Tangible examples helped shift sustainability reporting from a "nice-to-have" to a critical business need. - Framing it as an Opportunity:
Beyond compliance, Snotra positioned ESG reporting as a competitive advantage. By highlighting the growing demand for eco-conscious offerings and brands, they showed businesses how sustainability documentation could be leveraged as a marketing asset to attract eco-conscious travelers.
Challenge 2: Cybersecurity – Solving an Invisible Threat
In tourism, personal data is everywhere — passport numbers, credit card details, itineraries - all of which make the industry a target for hackers and cybercriminals. Robust cybersecurity is essential for maintaining customer trust and complying with regulations like NIS2 and GDPR.
Cybercue, offering a cybersecurity solution and working with the XNTC team to adapt and offer this solution to tourism businesses, encountered a different challenge: Communication. For many tourism businesses, cybersecurity felt intangible and abstract, overshadowed by more immediate operational concerns and misconceptions that cybersecurity threats are more relevant to bigger businesses.
How Cybercue Approached This Challenge:
- Engaging the Industry:
Cybercue reached out to 60 businesses, engaging 20 in detailed discussions and onboarding 11 participants for live testing. By involving a diverse range of tourism stakeholders - hotels, attractions, and experience providers - they ensured broad applicability of their solution. - Testing in Real-World Scenarios:
Participants actively used the cybersecurity solution in their operations for two months, allowing Cybercue to demonstrate its tangible benefits in real-world contexts. - Feedback Loops for Validation:
Cybercue conducted midway and concluding interviews to gather qualitative insights. These sessions revealed both usability challenges and opportunities for refinement, ensuring the solution aligned with industry needs.
IN CONVERSATION WITH CYBERCUE
Exploring awareness testing and how to bring invisible threats and needs to the forefront with CEO & Founder of Cybercue, Eskil Sørensen:
What inspired you to work with cybersecurity, why is it important?
We have been frustrated by how often cybersecurity solutions failed to make a measurable impact, especially for smaller businesses. The problem was clear: communication around cybersecurity wasn’t personal enough. Generic warnings or blanket advice leaves SMEs disengaged, thinking, “this doesn’t apply to me”.
So, we took a different approach. We built a tool that allows businesses to describe their specific setup – specifying for example, their IT systems. From there, Cybercue sends highly individualised cues and notifications, tailored to their exact situation. We make these communications feel personal, because we think that will trigger SMEs to take more action.
How has the tourism market responded to your product?
Initially, it was tough. Many tourism SMEs view cybersecurity as something for larger companies or high-risk industries. A common mindset was “Why would anyone target us? We’re just a small hotel or tour operator.” This perception created a barrier not just for Cybercue but for cybersecurity providers in general.
We approached tourism organisations not as a sector, but as SMEs with unique challenges. Tourism businesses juggle seasonality, high turnover of staff, and scaling operations quickly when demand spikes – all factors that amplify cyber risks. Our focus was on connecting these realities with the need for good cybersecurity behaviours early on, so as they scale, they’re doing it securely.
The tourism industry proved to be a great, and extreme place for testing. It’s not bogged down by heavy compliance, which gave us room to try out new approaches, but it is also incredibly challenging as it is an industry which deals primarily with immediate business concerns, so finding ways to make cybersecurity feel accessible and worth their time was critical.
What did you learn from testing Cybercue with XNTC?
We onboarded about 10-12 organisations and found challenges in maintaining engagement beyond onboarding. The platform sends notifications to prompt users when action is needed. These notifications often went unaddressed – not because they weren’t valuable, but because the urgency felt overwhelming.
We found that if they didn’t act immediately, they lost momentum. This insight has been invaluable in rethinking how we design for and communicate with time-strapped users.
What strategies have you found effective in turning 'unknown needs' into recognised priorities?
Weirdly, it’s not necessarily hammering on about the urgency around not taking cybersecurity seriously, which has been our main lever for grabbing attention. Pushing the “cyber threats are imminent” narrative only created stress or led to disengagement. Tourism SMEs already have enough urgent matters to deal with.
Instead, we shifted to a more empathetic approach: We know you’re busy. When you’re ready to focus on cybersecurity, here’s how we’ll help you make the most of that time.
Our focus is now on creating a safe space for businesses to engage – not based on a fear of falling behind. For instance, one common question we received was: How much time do I have to spend on this?
Our answer became a key part of our pitch: Set aside an hour a month, and we’ll make that hour as valuable as possible.
We want to improve how we frame the narrative: Move beyond cybersecurity being synonymous as avoiding disaster; but about creating trust and stability for your business and your customers.
What advice do you have for startups working with the tourism industry?
Understand the language of the industry. Tourism is about experiences, storytelling, and human connections. If you frame your product in technical or compliance-driven terms, you’ll lose their attention. Instead, tie your solution to the human experience, that’s what we’re taking with us. For example, cybersecurity isn’t just about IT – it’s about protecting the trust travellers place in a business to keep their data and experiences secure.
Nordic countries are safe travel destinations based on strong institutions and culture. Inhabitants have trust within another. It’s a strong value for the countries and a strength for the tourism industry.
However, this is also a weakness because cyber threat actors, i.e. cyber criminals, take advantage of this trust. Cyber criminals can capitalise on it, deface the industry and break down a part of the economy in the Nordics - ultimately challenging the value of the Nordics itself. Creating a strong cybersecurity culture in a single tourism SME supports the industry itself.
What’s next for Cybercue?
We’re focusing on making cybersecurity as approachable as possible for SMEs. Like I said before, this means moving beyond that “urgency narrative” we used to grab and maintain attention, but instead emphasise small, achievable steps like dedicate an hour to this platform and we’ll be right here to guide you through it all. Like a part-time Chief Information Security Officer or security consultant would do.
IN CONVERSATION WITH CYBERCUE
Exploring awareness testing and how to bring invisible threats and needs to the forefront with CEO & Founder of Cybercue, Eskil Sørensen:
What inspired you to work with cybersecurity, why is it important?
We have been frustrated by how often cybersecurity solutions failed to make a measurable impact, especially for smaller businesses. The problem was clear: communication around cybersecurity wasn’t personal enough. Generic warnings or blanket advice leaves SMEs disengaged, thinking, “this doesn’t apply to me”.
So, we took a different approach. We built a tool that allows businesses to describe their specific setup – specifying for example, their IT systems. From there, Cybercue sends highly individualised cues and notifications, tailored to their exact situation. We make these communications feel personal, because we think that will trigger SMEs to take more action.
How has the tourism market responded to your product?
Initially, it was tough. Many tourism SMEs view cybersecurity as something for larger companies or high-risk industries. A common mindset was “Why would anyone target us? We’re just a small hotel or tour operator.” This perception created a barrier not just for Cybercue but for cybersecurity providers in general.
We approached tourism organisations not as a sector, but as SMEs with unique challenges. Tourism businesses juggle seasonality, high turnover of staff, and scaling operations quickly when demand spikes – all factors that amplify cyber risks. Our focus was on connecting these realities with the need for good cybersecurity behaviours early on, so as they scale, they’re doing it securely.
The tourism industry proved to be a great, and extreme place for testing. It’s not bogged down by heavy compliance, which gave us room to try out new approaches, but it is also incredibly challenging as it is an industry which deals primarily with immediate business concerns, so finding ways to make cybersecurity feel accessible and worth their time was critical.
What did you learn from testing Cybercue with XNTC?
We onboarded about 10-12 organisations and found challenges in maintaining engagement beyond onboarding. The platform sends notifications to prompt users when action is needed. These notifications often went unaddressed – not because they weren’t valuable, but because the urgency felt overwhelming.
We found that if they didn’t act immediately, they lost momentum. This insight has been invaluable in rethinking how we design for and communicate with time-strapped users.
What strategies have you found effective in turning 'unknown needs' into recognised priorities?
Weirdly, it’s not necessarily hammering on about the urgency around not taking cybersecurity seriously, which has been our main lever for grabbing attention. Pushing the “cyber threats are imminent” narrative only created stress or led to disengagement. Tourism SMEs already have enough urgent matters to deal with.
Instead, we shifted to a more empathetic approach: We know you’re busy. When you’re ready to focus on cybersecurity, here’s how we’ll help you make the most of that time.
Our focus is now on creating a safe space for businesses to engage – not based on a fear of falling behind. For instance, one common question we received was: How much time do I have to spend on this?
Our answer became a key part of our pitch: Set aside an hour a month, and we’ll make that hour as valuable as possible.
We want to improve how we frame the narrative: Move beyond cybersecurity being synonymous as avoiding disaster; but about creating trust and stability for your business and your customers.
What advice do you have for startups working with the tourism industry?
Understand the language of the industry. Tourism is about experiences, storytelling, and human connections. If you frame your product in technical or compliance-driven terms, you’ll lose their attention. Instead, tie your solution to the human experience, that’s what we’re taking with us. For example, cybersecurity isn’t just about IT – it’s about protecting the trust travellers place in a business to keep their data and experiences secure.
Nordic countries are safe travel destinations based on strong institutions and culture. Inhabitants have trust within another. It’s a strong value for the countries and a strength for the tourism industry.
However, this is also a weakness because cyber threat actors, i.e. cyber criminals, take advantage of this trust. Cyber criminals can capitalise on it, deface the industry and break down a part of the economy in the Nordics - ultimately challenging the value of the Nordics itself. Creating a strong cybersecurity culture in a single tourism SME supports the industry itself.
What’s next for Cybercue?
We’re focusing on making cybersecurity as approachable as possible for SMEs. Like I said before, this means moving beyond that “urgency narrative” we used to grab and maintain attention, but instead emphasise small, achievable steps like dedicate an hour to this platform and we’ll be right here to guide you through it all. Like a part-time Chief Information Security Officer or security consultant would do.
Startup: Is your target market not resonating with your product? | Tourism Professional: Not sure how relevant a new solution is for your business? |
Ask yourself:
| Ask yourself:
|
Create Awareness in An Unaware Market: In Summary
Testing solutions that address perceived future challenges is not without its own challenges. As XNTC tested with Snotra and Cybercue, the key to get tourism industry onboard with these new solutions was to make future risks both tangible and immediate, draw parallels to more familiar compliance issues and reframe solutions as potentially competitive advantages.
This part of the XNTC process highlights a critical insight: The journey from awareness to adoption is not just about what the solution offers, but how it is communicated and understood within the tourism industry's context.
4. MAKE OR BREAK THE MATCHMAKING
When startups and industry players come together, the process can be undeniably exciting. Yet, it’s also complex and full of challenges that often surface as the collaboration unfolds, and both sides need to navigate the nuances of their respective needs, priorities, and ways of working.
As part of the XNTC process, the startup company All Gravy was introduced and matched with the tour company Stromma. All Gravy is an AI-powered employee app with onboarding, while Stromma is a tour company that offers sightseeing and activities in 17 destinations.
The XNTC challenge at hand: Tourism employee attraction, retention and engagement. And All Gravy has shown great results in exactly retention and engagement in a parallel industry, namely retail, with adaptive payroll systems, matching younger generations workplace expectations and flexible demands.
While initially deemed a match made in heaven, the collaboration took time to unfold. And All Gravy approached the match with an open mind – listening, adapting and actively engaging with the needs of Stromma as industry representative.
In the following interviews on lessons learned, you will get the perspective of both sides: From All Gravy and from Stromma. Read it in combination and you will take away key insights on what it takes to match new solutions and innovations with the tourism industry.
IN CONVERSATION WITH ALL GRAVY
Unpacking the challenges and opportunities of adapting innovative employee tools for Nordic tourism with Lukas Kjelstrup, Go To Market Lead with All Gravy.
Firstly, why does All Gravy exist?
The workforce is changing and it’s also in a bit of a crisis: shrinking attraction and retention of frontline workers, coupled with Gen Z employees, accustomed to platforms like TikTok, find traditional workplace tools out of sync with their expectations. The "aha moment" in our product was seeing employee adoption directly drive retention. With turnover rates as high as 80% in industries like hospitality, our platform has increased retention by 20%, saving businesses money while creating better every-day work environments.
From hospitality to tourism – why did you make the leap?
Transitioning to tourism was natural for us, given the overlap in employee demographics across hospitality, retail, and amusement parks etc. Our company mission has always been the same: to build products for the workforce of the future.
How did you make your product relevant for Stromma?
With All Gravy, we tend to consolidate multiple platforms into one, which also means that our product is really broad, covering everything from scheduling and internal communication to LMS, surveys, workflows, and much more.
The conversation with Stromma initially was about our Financial Wellbeing tool, which, in short, allows employees to access parts of their wages before payday while giving them more transparency into their salary, allowing them to budget directly in the platform. Ultimately, it incentivizes employees to take more shifts and gain a better understanding of their salary.
However, after the initial discussions, we quickly figured out that this wasn’t the issue Stromma was looking to solve. They were looking for an innovative and engaging way to train and onboard their employees while making sure they could tailor it specifically to different countries, departments, and roles, so each employee gets a tailored experience.
Stromma was looking for something engaging, intuitive, and user-friendly, which is what All Gravy is about.
Where are you now after adapting to the market, and is there anything you would do differently?
Unfortunately, our journey with Stromma didn't take off now, but we're quite confident in getting to work together at some point, since it was a really good match. We're still mostly focused towards hospitality and retail, but recently started working with one of the biggest travelling agencies in Norway, which so far has been an awesome collaboration.
I don't necessarily think we should have done anything differently, but what I would advise other companies to really focus on, when going into potential partnerships this size, is to really spend time in understanding the process from start to finish from the customers’ point of view. This means understanding for example, who needs to be involved in the decision-making (e.g., legal, finance, HR, operations)? What internal steps are they subject to before being able to enter an agreement? These kinds of considerations can avoid delays or mismatches.
IN CONVERSATION WITH STROMMA
Exploring the balance between innovation and operational readiness with Berit Jebjerg, Group HR Manager from Stromma, in reflection on their collaboration with All Gravy and the potential of working with startups in tourism:
What were your first impressions of All Gravy?
Initially they first approached us with an app for employee pay, and it wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. But we were impressed by their vision – like showing employees how extra shifts could translate into personal goals, and their previous clients, like 7/11. Personally, I admired their innovative ideas, but it wasn’t a priority for us.
When we actually got speaking to them, we realised they offered much more than just an employee pay benefits solution. Their learning platform stood out, particularly their forward-thinking approach to using AI to create more personalised and meaningful interactions with staff during onboarding. We liked this and decided to keep the talks going with them.
Speaking of what you like, what qualities in startups impress you as a potential investor?
It’s important startups take time to understand our needs – genuinely listen to our specific challenges. All Gravy had a really good approach here – as when we let them know we didn’t see payroll as a core need for us right now – they came back with a more relevant solution surrounding e-learning and onboarding for new staff! I really value entrepreneurs who are adaptable and open to testing new ideas, not just selling pre-packaged solutions.
Why didn’t you proceed with All Gravy?
There were a few challenges. Their system didn’t support Dutch or Finnish, which are key languages for us. Also, their e-learning software, as it is right now, integrates with Microsoft 365, unlike the platform we ultimately chose. For instance, our current solution allows single sign-on and links education directly to our intranet – and this is really essential for us. All Gravy were innovative and adaptable, but we needed something more immediately aligned with our operational needs.
It sounds like there was a balance between innovation and readiness. How did you navigate that?
Absolutely. Choosing between innovation and operational readiness was challenging, especially with the financial pressures the industry still faces post-COVID. If the pandemic hadn’t happened, we might have gone with All Gravy. Their ideas were forward-thinking, but we still need to prioritise immediate operational challenges.
Did All Gravy’s approach have any lasting impact on Stromma?
Yes, even though we didn’t proceed with them, they sparked an internal evaluation process. They inspired us to rethink our tender and procurement processes with more innovative approaches. It was after meeting them we put out a tender for the onboarding and e-learning of staff.
We also want to stay in touch with All Gravy. Supporting startups is actually part of our long-term strategy, as we see it as an opportunity to get new perspectives, create mutual value, and also as a responsibility for more established organisations to give young entrepreneurs support and a platform where they may test their ideas.
It’s a match!
In terms of workforce retention and engagement, one XNTC match was made: Cappy, founded with a mission to empower employees with greater financial flexibility, made a successful test match with SkiStar, Sweden’s largest ski resort company, which operates in both Sweden and Norway.
The test is in process at the time of writing this Guidebook and will involve 200 SkiStar employees, as part of the company’s broader commitment to innovation and being an attractive employer. With over 2,000 employees during the high season, SkiStar is focused on engaging young talent and strengthening their employer brand.
Cappy highlights the broader value of their platform: “Financial stress often impacts workplace performance. The majority of our users report using Cappy to gain a clearer overview of their earnings, which leads to greater financial security and better control over personal finances. Additionally, this real-time pay access reduces impulsive spending, helping users make smarter financial choices.”
Throughout the test, Cappy will track key metrics, ensuring both companies can refine their strategies.
Make or Break the Matchmaking: In Summary
Collaboration between startups and established tourism businesses can drive significant innovation but requires careful alignment of priorities and expectations. Successful partnerships depend on clear communication, mutual understanding, and a willingness to adapt both products and processes to meet specific needs.
Challenges such as integration with existing systems, operational readiness, and varying priorities can create hurdles, but they also present opportunities for both sides to grow and refine their approaches.
Ultimately, effective matchmaking between startups and the tourism industry hinges on finding the balance between forward-thinking innovation and immediate operational needs.
SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM TESTING SOLUTIONS?
- Action Over Perfection
Testing doesn’t require a polished product. Snotra’s journey demonstrated the value of launching with a beta version, engaging users in demo sessions, and learning from feedback. Progress comes from action, even when the tool isn’t perfect. - Inclusivity as a Strategic Advantage
Designing for neurodivergent travelers doesn’t just cater to a select few—it improves experiences for everyone. Inclusivity isn’t just good ethics; it’s good business. - Speak the Industry’s Language
For solutions to resonate, they need to align with industry realities. Startups like Snotra and Cybercue succeeded by framing their tools — ESG reporting and cybersecurity — as essential solutions, translating complex features into practical, tangible benefits. - Turn Invisible Needs into Opportunities
Cybercue reframed cybersecurity from "disaster prevention" to "trust-building," transforming an abstract and overwhelming issue into an actionable opportunity. Tourism startups can take a similar approach by connecting big-picture challenges to immediate, relatable benefits. - Collaborate, Don’t Dictate
Startups thrive when they listen, adapt, and align with the industry’s pain points rather than insisting on rigid solutions. In a sector operating on thin margins, collaboration and flexibility are essential for building lasting partnerships. - Cross-Nordic Testing for Cross-Nordic Markets
Many of the startups are interested in testing in a neighboring Nordic market, and the industry is similarly open to welcoming Nordic solutions. Scaling across the Nordics is more like extending a home market than breaking into a foreign one, hence also a good testing ground for early scaling.