4 unique innovations honored at the first-ever WTFL Indian Startup Innovation Camp 2019 in Bangalore

After attaining a successful stature at global level, World Tourism Forum Lucerne (WTFL) made its debut in India this year with first-of-its-kind competition – Indian Start-Up Innovation Camp 2019. The event concluded today on 18th December at Taj, Bengaluru where the four winners with the most unique and innovative ideas were announced.

In the first phase of evaluation, WTFL shortlisted 16 unique startups for the final round after evaluating 200 startup applications. Winners of this competition were announced in the categories of Community, Conservation, Culture and Commerce respectively in the field of travel, tourism and hospitality from the Indian subcontinent. They were also rewarded with USD 10,000 each along with a personalized two-year mentoring by industry experts.

Out of all the game-changing ideas by 200 startups that applied for Indian Start-Up Innovation Camp 2019, we are happy to announce the names of four most unique startups that stood out with flying colors. We believe, organizing the event in India this year gave us an opportunity to come across interesting ideas. Considering that, India has a niche product portfolio in travel, tourism and hospitality sector and is expected to grow at a rate of 100% by 2028. We are sure to make a mark and create awareness around the on-going environmental issues and look forward to holding more such engaging events in India in the coming years.

Martin Barth, President and CEO, World Tourism Forum Lucerne

Below are the names of Start-Ups along with their Founding members who won the competition:

• Community – F5 Escapes, Bangalore (Malini Gowrishankar Founder & CEO, Akanksha Bumb, Co-founder & CEO)
• Conservation – Quick Ride, Bangalore (Naveen Mamgain, Co-founder)
• Culture – NotOnMap, Chamba (Kumar Anubhav, Founder & Vikram Pratap Singh, Advisor)
• Commerce – Me Tripping, Bangalore (Varun Gupta, Founder & CEO)

Below are the key discussion pointers at WTFL:

1. Transforming lives in India through Sustainable Travel
2. Digital transformation in the tourism industry in India
3. Sustainable development goals changing the tourism/hospitality sector in India (reducing wastage, recycling and upcycling emerging the sector in 2020 and coming years)
4. Impact on the economic ecosystem of India when it comes to the travel sector
5. How startup community is growing in the adventure travel
6. Innovation in travel is creating opportunities and fueling growth among rural communities
7. Leveraging the progress of culture, social and emotional aspects in tourism
8. How emerging startups are making people travel more, get out of their homes and sharing experiences with them
9. Travelers are looking at accidents and risks in a different way today. Startups incorporating all this in their business idea and promoting safe travel
10. Startups are becoming good partners between government, institutes and the tourism industry.
11. Mobility will no more be a challenge for youth in the times to come

Tourism has been one of the growing economic sectors across the world. IHCL is proud to support WTFL in this great initiative to recognize innovation in the travel, tourism and hospitality sector, which is one of the biggest job creators globally.

Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and CEO, The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL)

The Travel, Tourism and Hospitality sector has the opportunity to bring about irreversible change in the remotest parts of India, through collective efforts of several institutions and influencers in the society. Tata Trusts believes that wider impact can be achieved through the creation of a collaborative ecosystem that fosters innovation, inclusion, sustainability and entrepreneurship. Further, Tata Trusts, with its focus on integrated community-based interventions across India, aim to create sustainable value-chains, while augmenting the socio-ecological resources.

Prabhat Pani, Senior Advisor – Partnerships, Tata Trusts

More about Start-Up Winners:

• F5 Escapes – F5 Escapes is a Bangalore-based, experiential travel company, with a focus on redefining the way women travel in India. The premise of F5 is an ambitious dream – to put India on the global travel map as a preferred destination for women from across the globe. F5 Escapes offers fixed departure all-women group tours, customized itineraries for families, groups and solo travelers. They also do in-city engagements which include #JustGo travel meetups, workshops to educate women on travel safety, sustainable menstruation, motorbiking etc.
• Quick Ride – Quick Ride is an application-based company in Bangalore. Quick Ride is a real-time ride sharing application for the convenience of consumers. It helps to connect daily commuters at one common platform and makes it economical, eco-friendly, social, safe and convenient to use for all.
• NotOnMap – NotOnMap is a platform that connects travelers to culturally rich remote villages after restoring houses, training, community members thereby creating an alternative livelihood for villagers and minimizing unskilled migration.
• Me Tripping – MeTripping is an Intelligent Travel Search platform that helps in making the best travel decisions by making sense of the world’s data. MeTripping claims to solve this problem by launching a revolutionary travel search engine that can help users go “from desire to decision” in minutes. Users can figure out everything – destination, flight, hotel, and activities – within budget and on their travel dates.

The globally renowned platform that provides world’s leading tourism, travel and hospitality leaders along with innovators to meet and shape a more sustainable future. For the past 10 years, WTFL has given an exclusive ground to the budding businessmen by nurturing their innovations in this sector. With this platform, our country will brace up to revive Brand India with the help of 5 Ts: Tradition, Talent, Tourism, Trade and Technology.

In 2017, Global Himalayan Expedition became the first Indian start-up to have won the prestigious WTFL competition.

About WTFL
The World Tourism Forum Lucerne is an exclusive platform where the world’s leading tourism, travel and hospitality companies meet to shape a more sustainable future for tourism. It provides decision-makers with in-depth insights into the core themes of the tourism industry and a unique global network. The World Tourism Forum Lucerne is the only platform to integrate start-ups, young executives and students into one program. Over the past ten years, it has evolved into a year-round network of leaders and innovators who are driving positive change in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. This includes an influential network of leaders from the business, education, politics, finance and community sectors.

About Indian Start-up Innovation Camp 2019
Indian Start-Up Innovation Camp 2019 is scheduled for December 18th at the Taj Bengaluru and is inspired by unique start-ups operating in the categories of Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. The event will give the attendees a chance to interact with the founders along with an opportunity to vote for their favorite winner!

About Tata Trusts
Since inception in 1892, Tata Trusts, India’s the oldest philanthropic organization, has played a pioneering role in bringing about an enduring difference in the lives of the communities it serves. Guided by the principles and the vision of proactive philanthropy of the Founder, Jamsetji Tata, the Trusts’ purpose is to catalyze development in the areas of health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, livelihood, digital transformation, migration and urban habitat, social justice and inclusion, environment and energy, skill development, sports, and arts and culture. The Trusts’ programmes, achieved through direct implementation, partnerships and grant making, are marked by innovations, relevant to the country.

For more information, please visit website http://tatatrusts.org/ LinkedIn: Tata Trusts Twitter: @tatatrusts Facebook: Tata Trusts Instagram: tata_trusts