An on-demand chat-based service providing
around the clock answers from local experts to travel and lifestyle questions
was the only Vietnamese entry to win one of the top prizes from the MIST
tourism accelerator. MIST, which stands for Mekong Innovative Startup Tourism,
is an initiative that works to give startups in the Mekong Delta region a
launch-pad to achieve profitability, create jobs and impact local communities. MIST
announced the recipients of four 2017 Mekong Business Initiative Innovation
Grants on Tuesday. Viet Nam’s Chameleon City and Cambodia’s Camboticket, both
travel startups, as well as Artisan Origins by TAEC, a social enterprise from
Laos, each received USD7,000 worth of grants. Chameleon City provides users
with answers from local experts to travel and lifestyle questions through a
chat-based service available 24/7. Artisan Origins offers authentic, high
quality crafts from rural ethnic communities in Laos, while CamboTicket
aggregates bus, ferry and private taxi bookings around Cambodia and Laos on one
platform. GoP, another travel startup from Myanmar, took home the top prize,
which included a grant of USD10,000. The online tourism platform aggregates
tour operators and options into one place, offering a high-quality service,
reliable bookings and instant confirmation. In the meantime, Vietnamese
entrepreneurs Nguyen Thi Huong Lien and Nguyen Thi Thu from I Love Asia Tours,
as well as Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh from Morning Rooms were also honored with the
WISE Women’s Leadership Awards. They will benefit from mentorship through Viet
Nam’s Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship (WISE) as they
launch their respective startups. I Love Asia offers female-led motorbike tours
of Hoi An and Hue while supporting projects for disadvantaged communities in
the cities they operate. Morning Rooms is Viet Nam’s largest budget hotel
network, helping low-budget tourists find the quality rooms at a price they can
afford. “MIST is unique in that it integrates the Greater Mekong region’s
travel startups into an ecosystem for sustainable tourism development,” said
Jens Thraenhart, executive director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office
and organizer of the Mekong Tourism Forum. “The entrepreneurs I’ve met through
MIST have convinced me that tourism in our region has a very bright future.” MIST
began in December 2016 as a joint venture between the Mekong Tourism
Coordinating Office, the Government of Australia, and the Asian Development
Bank-supported Mekong Business Initiative. It includes a Startup Accelerator
for early-stage startups from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam, and a
Market Access Program for mature startups based anywhere in the world that want
MIST’s assistance localizing proven tourism products and solutions into the
Greater Mekong region. More than 250 applications for the accelerator program
were submitted to MIST.
Vietnamese travel startup wins USD7k grant from int’l tourism accelerator
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