All five global regions are represented as the UNWTO SDGs Global Startup Competition reaches its final stages. The competition was launched to identify innovators whose ideas can advance tourism's contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and attracted more than 10,000 participants from 138 countries. Now, the jury has narrowed the field down to a shortlist of just 60 finalists.

This competition is a UNWTO initiative created as part of the collaboration with the United Nations Innovation Network, a common action framework by UN Agencies to develop public-private partnerships to support the SDGs. The finalists were chosen by a special jury made up of experts drawn from international banks, airlines, tourism destinations and technology platforms. Reflecting the global interest in the initiative, the 60 finalists come from 28 countries, with each of UNWTO's five global regions represented in the final stages.

Now, the jury will work on selecting just one finalist for each of the 17 SDGs. Each startup will be assessed according to fixed criteria, including their ability to contribute to a specific SDG, the ease of value capture, their potential business impact and the maturity of both their product or platform and their team.

This final group of 17 startups will be announced throughout January. Then, in the spring, they will be invited to pitch their ideas to UNWTO, its partners and investors at the flagship event of the Global Startup Competition, the UNWTO SDG Tourism Tech Adventure (TTA), due to be held in Qatar this Spring.

In addition to the chance to pitch at the TTA Innovation Forum, winning startups will gain access to leading technological support and to more than 100 venture capitalists. They will also be able to benefit from UNWTO's network of partners, with curated mentorship programmes from, among others, Amadeus, ClarkeModet, Google, IE University, Telefónica, Qatar Airways, Amazon, Globant, IDB, Wakalua powered by Globalia and Mastercard.

FINALISTS OF THE UNWTO GLOBAL SDG STARTUP COMPETITION

SDG 1: No poverty

  • Etnica
  • Pinvels (Hong Kong) Limited
  • Vaki
  • At Hause

SDG 2: Zero Hunger

  • Ifarm Agritech
  • Eden Agritech
  • TeleSense

SDG 3: Good health and well-being

  • Sitata
  • BlueDot
  • GeoSure
  • Limbix
  • Smart Tour/ Smart Tracking

SDG 4: Quality education

  • Immersion India
  • ApplyBoard
  • Deaf Travel

SDG 5: Gender equality

  • La Voyageuse
  • Mowo Social Initiatives
  • Women in Hospitality Uganda Ltd
  • Sisterwave

SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation

  • ECOLOO Greentech Malaysia SDN BHD
  • Zero Mass Water
  • Ocean Oasis
  • Nazava Water Filters

SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy

  • Enexor BioEnergy
  • BeFC
  • SunEmison
  • Swimsol

SDG 8: Good jobs and economic growth

  • Community Homestay Network
  • Clio Muse Tours PC
  • HiJiffy

SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure:

  • Sherpa
  • Carbon Lighthouse
  • DefinedCrowd
  • FREED GROUP (aka TravelFlan)

SDG 10: Reduced inequalities

  • Travaxy - accessible travel
  • Worldpackers
  • Social Light Inc

SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities

  • Metrica6
  • eccocar
  • Tunnll
  • ToBadaa
  • ViaVii
  • Green Urban Data

SDG 12: Sustainable consumption and production:

  • Lumitics
  • Nilus
  • HYDRAO

SDG 13: Climate action

  • Opus 12, Inc.
  • ClimateTrade
  • Aclima
  • Safety Line

SDG 14: Life below water

  • Seven Clean Seas
  • SafetyNet Technologies
  • Recyglo

SDG 15: Life on land

  • Comon Solutions

SDG 16: Peace, justice and string institutions

  • Impulse Travel
  • Get Up And Go Colombia
  • SEMA

SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals

  • Siliconbali
  • Nibi
  • Arnie

About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.

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UN Tourism