The 1st UNWTO Sports Tourism Start-up Competition has been launched by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in collaboration with the Barça Innovation Hub (BIHUB).
With the support of the Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC), the initiative is designed to identify projects and innovations that can transform the sports tourism sector in the near future.
Competition organisers are seeking entries from start-ups that have disruptive ideas focused on solving real needs and addressing knowledge gaps in the growing sports tourism sector.
In all, 20 start-ups will be shortlisted by a panel of international experts and industry stakeholders.
The panel will then select five semi-finalists who will all be invited to Barcelona to pitch their ideas to sports experts, government representatives, tourism business leaders and international investors.
Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO secretary-general, said: “Through this competition, start-ups with disruptive visions can propose new ideas that will allow the sports tourism sector to contribute to the sustainable development goals.”
Key dates
- 15 August 2019: deadline for applications
- 30 August 2019: presentation of 20 pre-selected start-ups on the online platform
- 15 September 2019: selection of five finalists and presentation on the online platform
- 14 October 2019: announcement of the winning start-up
Who can enter?
- Start-ups in the early stage or Series A stage
- Both for-profit and non-profit
- Natural or legal persons
- Start-ups with a minimum viable product (MVP)
- Start-ups with potential for scalability
- Start-ups with a sustainable vision
How to enter
See more details at unwto-barcainnovationhub-challenge.org
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