Mekong Innovative Start-up Tourism: 12 Regional Start-up Finalists

The Mekong Innovative Start-up Tourism (MIST) Accelerator Programme recently announced that 12 start-ups from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam have qualified for the final round of the Start-up Incubator Programme of this project.

At the final round, the start-ups will pitch business plans to investors at the Mekong Tourism Forum on June 6, 2017 in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Leading tourism experts selected the 12 start-ups from more than 250 applications spanning a wide range of areas such as travel technology solutions, traditional tourism products, hospitality projects and social enterprises. All 12 attended a three-day training and evaluation programme from May 5-7 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where experts from Amadeus Next, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Buffalo Tours (TMG), Clickable Vietnam, Entrepid Advisors, Gobi Ventures, the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), and Triip.me mentored the start-ups.

Mr Jens Thraenhart, Executive Director of MTCO and Co-founder of MIST, explained that it is critical in today’s competitive and fast changing travel and tourism landscape to integrate innovation and start-ups into tourism development planning. MTCO is currently the only regional tourism organisation that incorporates start-ups into its tourism strategy development process.

“One of the criteria for selecting the start-ups to present their business plans at the Mekong Tourism Forum is their contributions to socio-economic development,” he added. In addition to conventional evaluation criteria, the start-ups qualifying to pitch at the Mekong Tourism Forum were also assessed on socio-economic factors such as contribution to responsible tourism development of the Greater Mekong Subregion, employment of local people (especially women), and inclusive growth.

Start-ups qualifying for the final round include: Bayo-Vietnam. Bayo’s mission is to help Vietnamese make the best travel decisions by helping them find the right travel information, right suppliers, right products and prices, and to transact with local suppliers easily.

I Love Asia-Vietnam-I Love Asia offers women-led motorbike tours of Hoi An and Hue while supporting projects for disadvantaged communities in the cities where they operate. Dichung-Vietnam-Dichung uses technology to promote low-impact rideshare transportation options, giving drivers the chance to trade free seats in their vehicles, and working with taxi companies to develop vanpools.

Morning Rooms-Vietnam-Morning Rooms is Vietnam’s largest budget hotel network, helping economical tourists find the right quality rooms for the price they need.

“Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are all counting on tourism to contribute to their economic growth and socio-economic development. While governments can provide favourable policy conditions for tourism development, start-ups must do the hard work of enticing tourists, creating jobs and generating income. MIST has proven that the region’s start-ups are up to the challenge,” said Dominic Mellor, head of the MBI Project.

The Mekong Tourism Forum is an annual platform for public and private sector stakeholders to discuss the development, marketing and promotion of travel in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It will take place in Luang Prabang from June 6-9, 2017. Here, start-ups will present their business plans to media, investors and an expert judging panel. Four will be awarded innovation grants of US$7,000-10,000.

Le Minh