Hopes for the future and great banter: Photos from Dublin's Hospitality and Travel Networking Evening with Stripe

We were delighted to host this week’s Dublin Travel Massive at Café en Seine, thanks to the support of Stripe who have been great friends to the travel tech community here in Ireland throughout the year.

At some point during the evening, the bar staff told us that we had hit 42 guests — a number most techies will recognise either from Douglas Adam’s Hitch-hikers guide to the Galaxy, and familiar to every developer building with the Stripe platform (their test visa card number is famously 4242-4242-….)

With next year in sight, and the “meaning of life, the universe and everything” at the back of our minds, we asked some of our attendees what their hopes were for the new year.

Here’s what Dublin Travel Massive members are looking forward to in 2025:

Bryan Porter (Datalex): “I see 2025 as “the year of the Customer”: the year in which technology advances that we’ve been investing delivers the kind of ecommerce experiences that customers are receiving on other channels“

Nicola Cox (Walks): “I would like 2025 to be the year that people discover that the real secrets can be just a little bit outside the top three things that you need to see in a city.“

Rishikesh Rajagopal (Computer Science Undergrad in Trinity College working in Hospitality): “My hope for 2025 is to see sustainable tourism become a mainstream reality“

Sean Rice (Tailor Made Tours Ireland): “I’m looking forward to starting with one of my first new hires and looking to hire someone new next year as well“

Sheelagh Brady (Kowroo): “My hope is to secure our first customer and investment for our company, Kowroo“

Trevor Buckley (IrishAero): “That the passenger cap in Dublin Airport [which is limiting growth] becomes history“

Suzanne Flood (OpenVentures Consulting): “My hope is that over-tourism is reduced and that sustainability increases in the whole European Tourism Sector“

Mark Lenahan (Independent Consultant in TravelTech and Travel Massive Dublin Co-Lead): “My hope for 2025 is that airline technology or passenger technology gets disrupted by a new entrant or young startup company that wins a big airline customer and does something amazing because I think the industry is tied down by big incumbents“

Amanda Campbell (Sparkling Communications and Travel Massive Dublin Co-Lead): “I’d like to see the Travel Massive momentum grow even more in Dublin and that we continue to build a vibrant and supportive community based on authentic connections.“

— Thanks to everyone who attended and supported the event, and happy holidays!