The Diplomat
New sustainable, inclusive and innovative tourism experiences in Colombia will have the opportunity to win one of the 100 scholarships that the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and ProColombia have created to continue supporting the Colombian business network.
From September 17 to October 30, this call will be open to all companies in the country to present their projects in five categories through the innovation challenge for new tourism experiences.
The winners will have access to one of the courses in English and in digital format of the UNWTO Tourism Online Academy and, upon completion, the scholarship will benefit them by giving them the certificate of the international organization for free. The courses available for this call are “Fundamentals of Tourism Industry Management”, taught by IE University in Spain, and “Hotel Revenue Management: Hotel Room Pricing Strategy and Tactics” taught by Sommet Education.
These scholarships will identify tourism products within Colombia’s national offer with export potential, taking into account the level of innovation, viability, scalability and impact. They will also recognize the most innovative tourism products through the provision of opportunities for the development of skills and growth of the ventures. In addition, they will stimulate the strengthening of the country’s tourism innovation ecosystem based on the participation of the entrepreneurs that make up the sector’s value chain.
The announcement of this scholarship program was made during the visit of Colombian President Iván Duque to Spain, in an event held at the UNWTO Secretariat in the presence of its secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili; Colombia’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, María Ximena Lombana; and the president of ProColombia, Flavia Santoro.
UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, thanked the initiative and underscored “the leadership and support of President Iván Duque for an initiative that will serve as an example for other countries.” He added that education and innovation are determinants for a sustainable future, and tourism is an ideal ally and transmitter to unite these elements and generate opportunities”.
For his part, President Iván Duque explained that: “With the efforts of ProColombia, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and the UNWTO, 100 young Colombian entrepreneurs will have scholarships to study tourism. Thus, this sector continues to contribute to the country’s growth through reactivation, innovation and entrepreneurship,” he explained.
In addition, Flavia Santoro said: “We are very excited to be able to launch this call to promote tourism projects that represent the resilience and adaptability of the industry in exceptional times like these. With these scholarships we will continue to train and educate entrepreneurs through our Tourism Export Training Program with the backing and support of the UNWTO, the most relevant organization in the sector worldwide”.
The official also indicated that this project is part of the first phase of ProColombia ProColombia’s Tourism Export Route and also articulates and complements the strategy of strengthening and prioritization of target audiences that the entity has. “In total, 85 scholarships will be awarded to entrepreneurs via open call and 15 will be awarded to the winners of the National Tourism Awards 2021, which will be held next November. And in December we will announce the winners.”
“We want to promote innovation and the development of sustainable and inclusive tourism experiences among our entrepreneurs, which will allow us to attract more international visitors. These 100 scholarships will undoubtedly be a fundamental step towards achieving this goal, as they feature the digital training methodology developed by the UNWTO Tourism Online Academy,” said Minister Lombana.
What do you need to apply?
- Apply to the innovation challenge about new tourism experiences. Entrepreneurs, whether individuals or legal entities, with operations in Colombia and with a differentiated tourism product in their catalog, may participate.
- Note that they can apply in any of the following five categories: “Digital transformation (to strengthen commercial strategies, channels, positioning or development of their tourism product)”; “Development of local communities”; “Restoration, rehabilitation or recovery of ecosystems”; “Female empowerment”; and “Youth (promoting the construction of a generation that contributes to the country’s tourism)”.
- Prepare the application taking into account the category and the area in which it generates the greatest impact; read the terms and conditions of the competition; prepare an attractive presentation (or pitch deck) in Spanish (no more than 15 slides); and indicate the website, users in social networks and contact information.
- For more information see the page “UNWTO Innovation Challenge: New tourism experiences promoted by Procolombia“.
