Organised in conjunction with the WIT Conference this year, WITovation: The Entrepreneur Bootcamp will run on October 18, the day before the main Web in Travel conference, and is now open for entries. (Details here)

The bootcamp initiative is aimed at those with business ideas in the digital travel space, who want to be mentored by a specially-assembled panel of experts, and need access to funding channels.

WITovation’s mentors include Andrew McGlinchey, Head of Products, Southeast Asia, Google; Brett Henry, Vice President Marketing, Abacus International; Hrush Bhatt, Founder, Cleartrip, India; Loh Lik Peng, hotelier and restaurateur, Singapore; Martin Symes, CEO, Wego (pictured); Morris Sim, Co-Founder and CEO, Circos Brand Karma; Timothy Hughes, Vice President Commercial, Orbitz Worldwide and HotelClub; Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, CTO, Lute; William Bao Bean, Partner, Softbank China & India Holdings; and Wu Hai, Founder & CEO, Orange Hotel Group. (Detailshere)

Those shortlisted by the panel of mentors will have the opportunity to attend the Bootcamp in Singapore (at own travel expenses) and have their ideas and business plans workshopped with our mentors who come from a diverse range of backgrounds, interests and markets.

The winners of the Bootcamp will then go on to pitch their business plan to a panel of investors at the WIT Conference on October 19-20.

“In starting a business, even more important than funding, is being able to have personal time with experts who have either started their own business and gone through the school of hard knocks or who are specialists in technological innovation,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, producer and editor of WIT.

“Our mentors come from a diverse range of backgrounds – some run their own start-ups, others drive innovation within their corporations. One thing they have in common – a mission to encourage innovation and drive entrepreneurship in Asia.

“We are grateful to them for giving their time to WITovation and to share their expertise with the budding entrepreneurs who will be shortlisted for our competition.”

WITovation was also adopted by the Singapore Management University’s (SMU) World Travel & Tourism Class 2010 as one of its projects.

Under the leadership of Adjunct Faculty Aaron Hung, a competition was conducted to seek the best marketing plan for WITovation. Three groups competed and on April 3, the winning team was selected.

“My class has been involved with WIT for a few years now and I personally like WIT’s active involvement with students. Each year, a few of our students not only attend WIT as delegates but also actively take part in one project or another and they return, informed and inspired. It’s a good way for them to learn about the industry,” said Hung.

“The students shared some great ideas but we were also looking for ideas that could be executed. One of the criteria was also a zero-dollar marketing budget, so they really had to get creative,” said Siew Hoon.

The winning team, comprising Angeline Dai Xueting, Daniel Lin Ren Hao, Julie Lo Ruli, Yuen Xian Jin and Cheah Hui Xin, won hotel stays sponsored by Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.

WITovation is open to start-ups from zero to three years old. Entries should be submitted to WITovation@webintravelcom. The deadline for submission is Aug 1, 2010.

Featured image credit (Abstract Image of Business People’s Silhouettes in a Meeting): Ockra/iStock