Booking.com, one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies and digital technology leader, announced the 10 sustainable tourism startups, including two Indian companies, that will be joining the 2018 Booking Booster Programme in Amsterdam in May 2018. Building upon its successful launch in 2017, the three-week accelerator program consists of a series of lectures, hands-on workshops and coaching, culminating in a final pitch to receive a scaling grant of up to €500k from Booking.com’s €2 million fund in order to help support the next stage of the startups’ projected growth.

“We’re thrilled with the 10 inventive startups joining us in Amsterdam this spring,” said Gillian Tans, CEO of Booking.com. “The relationships we build with these passionate entrepreneurs not only help fuel their continued growth, but also invigorate and inspire our entire company. Our aim is to build a network of like-minded organisations and individuals that are leveraging technology to create a more sustainable future for destinations worldwide. Through our collective commitment, we are striving to ensure that we can keep the unique destinations we all love happy and healthy for generations to come.”

Image source: Booking.com

With hundreds of applicants from all over the world, the 10 startups joining the 2018 programme hail from six different countries and operate collectively across six continents, including Antarctica. Their businesses also represent a diverse mix of innovative online marketplaces that connect travellers with inclusive travel experiences, cutting-edge technology solutions and initiatives that empower local communities to benefit more equally from the global tourism opportunity.

Community Homestay Network (Nepal)
Community Homestay Network is a platform for travellers visiting Nepal with a core focus on empowering women and cultural immersion by creating homestays and other tourism-based micro-enterprises in off-the-beaten-path communities.

Global Himalayan Expedition (India)
Global Himalaya Expedition (GHE) organizes impact expeditions to provide clean energy and digital education access to the remote mountain communities of the Himalayas, helping to put them on the map for future travellers to explore.

HiveSters (Thailand)
HiveSters is a social enterprise that acts as a hub for sustainable, real Thai experiences, connecting travellers who look for authentic cultural interactions with local experts in Thailand’s largest urban areas.

Hotel Con Corazón (Netherlands: Operating in Nicaragua)
Hotel Con Corazón Granada started as a 15-room boutique hotel in Nicaragua which opened in 2008 with the aim of investing all its profits in education projects for underprivileged children.

Keteka (United States: Operating in Central and South America, Antarctica)
Keteka is an online marketplace of unique, off-the-beaten path activities with a focus on indigenous communities that are instantly bookable online.

KITRO (Switzerland)
KITRO is the first, fully-automated food waste measurement system for restaurants and hotels.

Reflow (Netherlands)
Reflow actively supports destination improvement by collecting plastic waste and transforming it into sustainable 3D printing material, used to build products for the hospitality industry.

Sakha Consulting Wings: Women on Wheels (India)
Sakha Consulting is a unique social enterprise, launched to provide safe transport solutions for women by women in selected cities in India, providing livelihoods with dignity in professional driving to resource-poor women as part of the “Women on Wheels” (WOW) initiative.

Tastemakers (United States: Operating in Africa)
TSTMKRS is an online marketplace that connects local insiders with curious travellers who want to see a different side of Africa.

Wheel the World (United States)
Wheel the World is tackling the challenge of accessibility and inclusion in tourism within the adventure travel sector for people with disabilities.

All the participating social enterprises will also receive several months of ongoing mentoring and coaching from Booking.com experts, as well as opportunities and access to collaborate with the company on potential innovation initiatives and experiments to help accelerate their future growth.

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The third edition of the Outlook Responsible Tourism Summit 2018 is all set to be held on February 10 at ITC Maurya in New Delhi. The platform aims to bring together India and its South Asian neighbours to share ideas and brainstorm on common challenges.

Since 2015, the Summit has been encouraging and supporting best practices in India, and bringing public and private stakeholders of India’s responsible tourism movement together to ideate, troubleshoot and inspire each other. With prominent speakers, including leading international experts in the field, opportunities for case study sharing and focused networking, the event hopes to consciously change the way India travels.

The Summit will start with a keynote on the future of travel by Megan Epler Wood, Director of International Sustainable Tourism Initiative, Harvard University. The event will also have sessions on ‘Rethinking Policies to Enable Better Practices’, the ‘Importance of Data to Measure Impact’, and an ‘Ask the Expert’ session where participants, including Daksh Sharma, Managing Director TravHQ Media and Iffort, will conduct workshops.

Here’s the complete agenda of the day –

The winners of the Indian Responsible Tourism Awards (IRTS), a regional partner of the WTM (World Travel Market) Responsible Tourism Awards, London, will also be announced at the Summit. The awards recognize pioneers in the field of ethical travel across the country to inspire and motivate the local fraternity, highlight replicable RT models, and spread the word through online and print platforms, including those owned by the Outlook Group.

Know more about the Summit and register for the event, here.

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