The 1st UNWTO Tourism Startup Competition is a leading edge initiative that has acknowledged emerging companies at the forefront of the transformation of the tourism sector and the promotion of innovation ecosystems through tourism. It is organized jointly by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in partnership with Globalia, the leading tourism group in Spain and Latin America. The 10 finalists will present their projects within the framework of the Fitur International Tourism Fair to be held at Madrid in Spain from 23rd to 27th January 2019 with the presence of global tourism leaders from the public and private sectors, as well as potential investors.
The finalists were selected among 3000 projects from 132 countries.The 10 finalists are Awake (Colombia), By Hours (Spain), e-bot (Germany), The FreeBird Club (Ireland), Howazit (Israel), Kompas (UK), Pruvo (Israel), Refundit (Israel), Seevoov (Israel), Stay 22 (Canada).
The competition aims at hunting for innovative startups capable of transforming the way people travel and experience tourism, while stick on closely to the principles of sustainability of being economic, social, and environmental.
“For the first time, we have positioned tourism in the global innovation agenda, a richly deserved place that reflects the weight and socio-economic impact of tourism,” said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. “The focus is to connect the public and private sectors creating opportunities to share ideas and projects,” he added.
To get the top 10 finalists each project’s uniqueness, potential impact, business model, viability and scalability, along with the profile of the team, were kept under criteria for selecting the 10 finalists.
“We have jointly created this innovative public-private collaborative model in tourism as a worldwide tourism group and delighted to lead this action together with the World Tourism Organization, working jointly to lead the transformation of the tourism sector and fostering the global innovation ecosystem and its entrepreneurs,” said Globalia CEO Javier Hidalgo.
All these finalists are remarkable for proposing innovative projects that redefine the way people plan trips or live tourism experiences, while encouraging sustainability and community participation. All this is combined with the application of technology to revolutionize business models and the management of companies in the sector.
Following the model applied on World Tourism Day, the winner will have the opportunity to carry out a pilot project with the Globalia Group and the finalists will have access to the leading actors in the world tourism sector.
An innovative competition
Globalia and the World Tourism Organization have assigned this initiative to Barrabes.biz,an innovation consultancy with rich 20 years plus experience in creating, connecting and activating entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems.
The technological platform chosen to manage the competition was YouNoodle, a pioneering Silicon Valley firm that specializes in innovation and entrepreneurship competitions at the global level.
About UNWTO
The World Tourism Organisation.a United Nations Specialized Agency,is leading international Organisation serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and a practical source of tourism know-how.Its membership includes 158 countries,6 territories ,2 permanent observers and 500 Affiliate Members.
About Globalia
Globalia is the number one tourism group in Ibero-America, with a turnover of over 3.689 billion euros in 2017. With a presence in more than 20 countries and 15,000 employees, Globalia provides services to all sectors of the world of tourism.
