UNWTO Announces Worldwide Competition for Tourism Startups

“The winners of this competition will have the opportunity to be part of the leading companies in the tourism sector.” – UNWTO

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in partnership with Globalia, a leading tourism group in Spain and Latin America, on Wednesday announced the launch of the 1st UNWTO Tourism Startup Competition.

According to the UNWTO, the competition it is the world’s first and largest initiative devoted to identifying new companies that will lead the transformation of the tourism sector.

In order to find the best projects, the call for competitors will be launched in 164 countries.

The objective of the program is to select the best solutions and the most disruptive projects. The search will focus on finding pioneering proposals for implementation of emerging and disruptive technologies, as well as on startups based on new business models, such as the circular economy. In this regard, one of the pillars of the competition is to give visibility to projects that are committed to enhancing sustainability in tourism.

Who can participate?

To participate in the global competition, startups must present business models that are related to at least one of four main areas:

– The future of travel
– The tourism experience
– Environmental impact
– Community development

Those interested in participating can find more information and submit their applications here.

Applications are open from June 26 to September 3.

The projects will be evaluated according to five criteria: uniqueness and viability of the solution, potential impact, business model, scalability and team profile. A jury will evaluate the entries and select the best projects as semi-finalists to be announced in September.

The program will be implemented through the digital platform YouNoodle, a leading Silicon Valley company in the startup evaluation space at the global level.