The 10 Finalists of the 2024 edition of the Social Entrepreneurship Competition in Tourism are now clear. Projects from India, Kenya, Italy, Thailand, Portugal, Nepal, Belgium and USA, will enter the final round of the Competition – two-month Mentorship phase in preparation for the final Pitch Contest in November.
Meet the 10 finalists:
Astrostays integrates community-operated homestays and communal spaces in India, led by trained local youth and women, and guided astronomy and stargazing sessions for travellers.
Khalifast Fashion Design is transforming recycled plastic waste into sustainable and innovative African cultural clothes, wedding dresses and accessories, while empowering the most vulnerable communities in Kakuma region in Kenya through hand on skills training.
ORMA Guides offers sustainable group trips led by creators and experts, focusing on themes like social innovation, climate action, and civil rights.
Tripseed is a Destination Management Company in Thailand dedicated to eliminating social inequity and injustice in Thailand’s travel sector through reducing economic leakage, improving social equity and inclusivity, closing the gender gap, and tackling discriminatory practices faced by the local workforce.
Appennini For All is providing accessible environmental tourism experiences in Italy for people with physical, visual, cognitive or sensory disabilities, while creating accessibility training and opportunities for local stakeholders.
Your Accessible Flight is a trip planner App that lets air passengers with reduced mobility plan barrier-free and secure trips, everywhere they go.
Namlolwe Kayak Excursions aim to harness the untapped tourism potential of Lake Victoria, the largest freshwater lake in Africa, by introducing eco-friendly kayaking tours & competition, led by local fishermen trained as kayaking guides. Nam-Lolwe means vast lake – the traditional Luo name for Lake Victoria.
The Janakpur Cultural Trails in Nepal is dedicated to transforming Janakpurdham into a sustainable tourism destination by providing deep cultural experiences and supporting local artisans and guides.
Buslunteer aims to offer a transformative journey on a fully equipped, eco-friendly bus, where travellers engage in local volunteer projects related to environmental conservation, social upliftment, and cultural preservation.
Himalayan Women Trail Leaders initiative aims to make female guides front and center of Nepal’s trekking tourism industry by creating a comprehensive directory of licensed female guides that can lead any of the treks along the 1700 km Himalayan Trail.
The Social Entrepreneurship Competition in Tourism is the first worldwide competition focusing on social innovation and entrepreneurship in tourism.
With record number of 140 applications this year, only 10 projects will continue to the next stage – 2-month Mentorship Program in preparation for the Final Pitch Contest on 18 November 2024.
Awards are presented in two categories:
Founded by prof. Claudia Broezel, the 2024 Competition is powered by are Travel Massive, Booking.com Amadeus, Lufthansa City Center, Neusta Destination.one, WIIF, SINA (Social Innovation Academy), ITB Berlin, Teejit, Eberswalde University.
+ 385 others joined this month
Comments
In 2024, we received a record number of applications and we are excited to keep things going!
I had the great opportunity to go through all 140 applications and I must say – this is such an inspiring initiative bringing together so many social entrepreneurs in tourism.
Some interesting statistics:
• 140 submitted applications
• 128 approved / 12 rejected
• 52 unique project countries
• 49 in Launch Track
• 79 in Growth Track
• 50% female, 46% male, 4% prefer not to say
• 77% full-time commitment to their project
If you want to learn more, you can follow us on:
> Our website: socialtourismcompetition.com
> LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/company/competition-social-entrepreneurship-in-tourism
It is amazing - we received so many really interesting applications! Thanks to you all for applying. Now the Jury members did their fantastic job - they voted (4eyes principle) and after that we discussed also some initiatives. Thanks to the Jury! And tomorrow the Mentoring phase is starting for the 10 shortlisted initiatives!! I hope this is very insightful for all of you - we have again a really interesting mentoring team, very experienced in different fields-and I'm already looking forward to the developments leading up to the Award Ceremony the 18th of November !! See you all there.
Wow Belgium is represented too! Good news!