Vio Travel's Ambitious Plans for Automation and Sustainability

Travel agents know all too well the challenges of building multicountry itineraries by hand. It’s a slow, messy, and inconsistent process that can be frustrating for both agents and clients. Vio Travel has been working to address this problem over the past few years, combining direct supplier contracts across 15 destinations with a platform that lets agents design and price trips in real-time.

The company recently became the first destination management company (DMC) in Asia to be certified under the Preferred by Nature Standard for Sustainable Travel Activities. This certification is recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and was achieved after an independent audit found Vio’s Indonesia operations 100% compliant across responsible management, people, nature, and climate.

We spoke with co-CEOs Dominik Schaufler and Michael Lynden-Bell to learn more about their platform and its capabilities. They explained that the goal is not to replace human judgment but rather to automate as much of the process as possible, freeing up agents to focus on what matters most – providing exceptional travel experiences.

For Schaufler, the starting point was recognizing that too many tour operators are still building itineraries manually. He noted that a significant number of tour operators are doing this the slow way and that Vio set out to remove that complexity. By giving agents access to local suppliers directly contracted across 15 destinations, they can deliver proposals faster, impress clients sooner, and close deals at a higher rate.

Lynden-Bell framed the change in behavior as friction removal rather than a rip-and-replace of existing relationships. He explained that Vio’s platform allows agents to build and price itineraries in minutes instead of waiting days for quotes or requesting availability. The pitch itself, he said, isn’t about technology but convenience, speed, and consistency.

When asked what the platform is doing differently from a traditional DMC’s product team, Lynden-Bell pushed back on the idea that software replaces people. He noted that the real advantage of Vio’s platform is its ability to process thousands of variables simultaneously and do it instantly – something technology can’t replicate with human judgment.

The speed at which agents can build and price itineraries is one of the most significant benefits of Vio’s platform. Lynden-Bell explained that there’s no queue, allowing an agent in London to build a 12-day multidestination itinerary without waiting for Bangkok to open. However, he was clear about the limits – technology can’t replace human judgment on non-standard situations.

Schaufler put a number on the automation ceiling, stating that technically they could automate 99% of the booking journey and are close to achieving it. But the 1% that matters most is human judgment. He emphasized that no algorithm captures earned instinct and that Vio’s goal is to protect this layer rather than shrink it.

When asked about getting hundreds of suppliers online, Schaufler noted that contracting directly with local suppliers across 15 destinations sounds clean on a slide but was actually a complex process. Many operators work with limited resources and aren’t built for speed – the opposite of what Vio Travel stands for.

The real bottleneck wasn’t willingness; it was infrastructure. Suppliers had to navigate technology literacy and bandwidth issues, which made getting pricing standardized and expectations aligned challenging. What moved the needle was having an in-destination team on the ground who could guide suppliers step-by-step.

Lynden-Bell emphasized that Vio’s recent Preferred by Nature certification wasn’t a marketing move but rather a reflection of their commitment to sustainability. The company applies this filter to every supplier decision, and if they don’t meet the bar, they don’t qualify as a partner. This is a firm line – not a purity test with no way back in.

Schaufler added that Vio doesn’t walk away from suppliers who genuinely want to improve but rather works with them to implement concrete sustainability initiatives. He emphasized that growth alone isn’t the objective; they want to build a business that’s scalable, profitable, and recognized for consistently delivering high-quality travel experiences.

When asked about competing with companies like Booking.com and Klook, Lynden-Bell noted that Vio doesn’t see itself as directly competing with them. They solve different problems – Vio focuses on multiday, multicountry travel across Asia Pacific involving complex logistics. This is where an agent needs white-label proposals, direct supplier relationships, and someone to call when something goes wrong.

Lynden-Bell was candid about the tech layer not being hard to defend but acknowledged that replicating the relationships, product curation, and operational infrastructure across 15 destinations overnight would be much harder. He noted that technology can help monitor quality, collect feedback, and improve processes but delivering exceptional travel experiences still depends on people.

The hardest part of Vio’s platform is encoding nuance – things like a change in a local operator’s team or a quality issue they’ve flagged but haven’t fully resolved. Lynden-Bell emphasized that technology can help see problems faster but doesn’t fix them on its own.

Looking ahead, Schaufler said Vio is building toward a world where any agent with a fair knowledge of a destination can design a complete, tailored trip for their client in minutes – no friction, no ceilings, and no waiting. He noted that curation stays human even as the process gets faster, and the quality and curation still come from exceptional handpicked products.

Lynden-Bell pointed to fixed-price packages, wholesale distribution, groups, and API-driven products as areas of opportunity for Vio’s growth. However, he emphasized that their priority is building a sustainable business with strong foundations, great people, and lasting partnerships – not just focusing on growth at any cost.