Morten Lund opened the day with a presentation that was as much inspiring as it was fresh in its style and content.  It’s not everyday you see a clip from Californication (a clip that would have been cut to shreds when shown on TV here in Singapore) in a presentation. Morten cut a delicate swathe between raw, colorful opinion and sound advice based on years of investing with some of the technology world’s most well known and innovative companies.  I was hesitating about wearing a silly hat for my presentation tomorrow at WIT but following Morten’s session that hesitation has disappeared.

Two panel discussions followed and the audience was treated to insights from some seasoned travel industry professionals talking about the challenges of starting and building a business and how innovation may or may not be nurtured in the travel industry.  What stuck out for me was the humility and the honesty of the panelists.  Despite their success as individuals there was no shortage of their admitting that they had made plenty of mistakes and faced many challenges.  Lessons have been learned and all the panelists shared a common drive and passion for what they do.  Inspiration indeed for budding entrepreneurs in the audience and those in the wider travel industry both in the region and beyond.

We were then introduced to two local young people who support entrepreneurship in Singapore and the region. Wong Joon Ian works with e27 – a community that supports and encourages technology start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Gwendolyn Regina Tan works closely with people with her company Triple Point giving specific advice and support to new businesses and those looking to get started on the challenging road towards their business dreams.

The afternoon was dedicated to hearing from some of those young entrepreneurs.  Four shortlisted young entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to present their business ideas in the digital travel space.  We heard from:

ComeSingapore

Tourz

Eco Travel

FOBO

There was no shortage of passion and enthusiasm from the groups and all did very well in what was, after all, a high-pressure environment.  Following their pitches, each group went off with some champions and mentors from the assembled audience of older, more experienced but not necessarily wiser travel industry professionals. 

For those not involved with the groups directly, we were challenged with solving a travel industry problem.  Kevin May presided over the idea to set up a travel specific search engine designed to supporting the needs of those looking to search all aspects of their trip from one travel-only website.  Not bad for fifty or so minutes work.

The four teams came back and presented their new shinier pitches and were then subjected to some constructive questioning from the audience.  Again, there was no shortage of energy and enthusiasm from theses budding business folks and it fell to Morris Sim to finally announce the three finalists that will fight it out again at WIT tomorrow. ComeSingapore, Eco Travel and FOBO.

A great day came to a close. A day when tomorrow’s travel industry leaders got to mingle with some seasoned leaders from today and yesterday.  We will hear more from everyone tomorrow at WIT proper kicks off at Suntec City.

I’m off for a drink.  Remember to keep a look out for my hat at WIT on Tuesday.

Featured image credit (Thumbs up on green background): Ockra/iStock