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How to tap start-up cash

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MUMBAI, 26 November 2018: Start-up ventures focusing on sustainable tourism stand a chance of winning Booking.com funding for their technology-driven solutions.

It’s third annual Booking Booster accelerator programme for start-ups gives companies an opportunity to tap a grant from a EUR2 million support fund that supports new technology solutions in sustainable tourism.

Booking.com is calling for start-ups from around the world that build technology-driven solutions to pitch for grants.

Through its 2019 Booking Booster Programme, Booking.com will select and invite 10 social enterprise start-ups working in the sustainable tourism sector for a three-week seminar in Amsterdam in May 2019.

All the start-ups will also receive a full-year of ongoing mentoring and coaching from Booking.com experts, as well as opportunities to collaborate with Booking.com on experiments to accelerate growth for all partners including Booking.com

Applications close 2 December, which is not much notice considering the press release was issued on 23 November.

Start-ups should visit the Booking Booster section on the Booking Cares website for full information.

For the third year programme, Booking.com highlights four key areas driven by start-ups that address sustainability issues in travel:

Spreading tourism evenly
Overcrowding in some of the world’s most popular destinations is an urgent topic in sustainable tourism currently being explored by a wide range of start-ups.

Recent Booking.com research indicates travellers are open to the idea of adjusting where and how they travel. This all highlights the significant potential for Apps that empower travellers to explore under-visited areas.

Creating opportunities for women
More start-ups are focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment to create business models to position travel-related services as vehicles to enable women to generate income independently.

Promoting communities
It is estimated that for every USD100 spent on a holiday by tourists from a developed country, only about USD5 actually stays in the country and benefits the local destination and community. This represents a significant opportunity for travel companies to help local communities benefit more equally from the global tourism opportunity.

Protecting the environment
Start-ups that include projects geared to deal with limited access to fresh water and issues associated with plastic waste or the ongoing depletion of natural resources.

Last year, Two Indian start-ups ‘Global Himalayan Expedition’ & ‘Sakha’ received the highest grants from Booking.com’s EUR2 million fund, of EUR400k and  EUR325k.

Global Himalayan Expedition organises impact expeditions to provide clean energy and digital education access to the remote mountain communities of the Himalayas.

Sakha Consulting Wings offers a ‘Women on Wheels’ social enterprise, launched to offer safe transport solutions for women by women in selected cities in India, providing livelihoods with dignity through professional driving opportunities.

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