Applications are now open for the third annual Booking Booster accelerator programme for travel technology startups in sustainable tourism; deadline: December 2, 2018.
Up to 10 social enterprise startups will be selected and invited to the Booking Booster three-week accelerator programme in Amsterdam in May 2019, consisting of lectures, workshops and coaching sessions. At the end, each startup will be invited to pitch their business ideas, in order to receive a grant of up to €500k from Booking.com’s €2 million fund.
All startups will also receive a full year of ongoing mentorship and coaching from Booking.com experts, and opportunities to work directly with Booking.com on innovation initiatives designed to accelerate growth.
This year, the Booking Booster programme focuses on four key areas of innovation, to address specific sustainability issues within the travel industry in need of a solution:
1. Spreading the benefits and effects of tourism more evenly
Booking.com research reveals that over half of global travellers are willing to stay outside of a city centre (51%) or travel during off-peak seasons (68%) to dodge overcrowding. On top of that, 47% are willing to skip major tourist attractions to seek our lesser-known alternatives, with 54% stating they’d extend their stay to venture farther from tourist areas. Thus, there is opportunity for a startup to develop a creative solution that would encourage travellers to discover under-visited areas, offering support to more local businesses in these areas
2. Creating economic opportunities for women through travel technology
The labour force participation rate among working-age women (25-54) is 63% (as compared to 94% among men), with the global gender pay gap at 23%, according to UNWOMEN 2018. There is strong need for a startup to tackle this disparity by positioning a “travel-related service as a vehicle to enable women to generate income independently.”
One successful example is the Women on Wheels initiative by Sakha Consulting, which was one of the top grant recipients of the programme. This programme trained resource-poor women in driving and self-defence so that they could become chauffeurs and offer safe transport services for women in India.
3. Promoting inclusive growth for under-resourced local communities
In an effort to ensure that local communities benefit more equally from the global tourism market, the Booking Booster programme is seeking startups that are promoting a more “inclusive growth model” for the travel industry. The UN Environmental Program estimates that only $5 of every $100 spent on holiday by tourists, stays within the country and benefits the local community. Yet, 65% of travellers say they would rather seek local products over tourist souvenirs, while 53% say they’d prefer experiences organised by local communities.
WiT 2016 WiTovation award-winner and 2017 Booking Booster grant winner, Backstreet Academy is working on this, having developed a peer-to-peer impact travel platform focused on alleviating poverty through tourism and technology. Since winning the programme’s top grant, the startup has increased the number of ‘micro-entrepreneurs’ in South-east Asia by 16% and almost doubled the income the helped generate for local communities. The business has also worked to preserve traditional activities, crafts and heritage, through its support of artisan culture.
4. Protecting the environment
Of course, the travel industry cannot ignore its drastic effect on the environment, especially when it comes to water scarcity, depleting natural resources and the horrific volume of waste (particularly plastic) generated. For example, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme, 300m tonnes of plastic waste is produced every year, much of which ends up polluting global water supplies and devastating marine ecosystems. While many travel companies, particularly hotels, are now actively seeking to eliminate single-use plastics, there is pressing need to address many of the industry’s other unsustainable practices and find efficient and effective alternatives.
For more details on the Booking Booster programme, click here.
To apply for the Booking Booster progamme, click here. Applications close on December 2, 2018.
Photo credit: Getty Images
