Finalists of 1st Global Sports Tourism Start-up Competition announced

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in collaboration with FC Barcelona’s Barça Innovation Hub, and with the support of the Qatar National Tourism Council have announced the finalists and semi-finalists of the 1st Sports Tourism Startup Competition, which recognizes disruptive, inspirational projects that have the potential to make an invaluable contribution to innovation in sports tourism.

Over 100 initiatives were submitted from over 50 countries. Finalists were selected from all over the world with solutions ranging from new technologies, community-based tourism development platforms, software initiatives and innovation-driven sports tech projects; all contributing to the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The top five selected Startups in the area of Tourism & Technology will present their pitches to investors, sports tourism experts and tourism stakeholders at the 1st UNWTO Sports Tourism Tech Adventure, to be held within the framework of the Global Tourism Economy Forum on 13 October 2019. The overall winner will be selected by an official jury.

Following on from this, the winner of the 1st UNWTO Tourism Tech Adventure: SportsTech along with the top 4 startups in the field of Sports & Technology will be invited to compete in a second challenge at the Barcelona Innovation Hub Headquarters in early 2020.

Natalia Bayona, Senior Expert on Innovation and Digital Transformation, at UNWTO says: “Thanks to this startup competition, we have had the opportunity to meet young talent with global views, entrepreneurs full of new solutions that are adding value in the tourism chain via new technologies and new ways to promote sports tourism. The finalists of this competition will be able to launch a pilot project alongside the Barça Innovation Hub or receive funding from specialized investors that would be part of the jury in our next UNWTO Tourism Tech Adventures Forum in Macao”

List of Finalists in Tourism Tech (in alphabetical order):

• Flyfoot (Lebanon)- Fly-Foot is the first online platform where football fans can book all- inclusive travel packages to watch their favorite teams play with just a few clicks and fosters local football communities.
• Inclusive Society Led by Persons with Disabilities (Japan) - a travel agency specialized in adapting travel and sports to individuals with limited mobility to increase social inclusion.
• Oevit (United States)- one-stop-shop solution for experience ecosystems. Oveit combines near field communication and biometric payments, audience engagement, loyalty programs, access control, registration and (e)ticketing.
• Wefish (Spain)- Offers a fishing application which is interactive, simple and social - developed by fishers for fishers.
• Running City (Belgium)- an app which allows users to discover over 150 cities around the world while running.

List of Finalists in Sports Tech (in alphabetical order):

• Aguairdio (Denmark)
• Bringsta GmbH (Austria)
• Questo (Romania)
• Sportcompass (Romania/Denmark)

List of Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order):

• 1.  Bacharkh (Iran)
• 2.  Circular Traveler (Spain)
• 3.  Instafly (Canada)
• 4.  Nomadic Escapes (Mauritius)
• 5.  Questips (Colombia)
• 6.  Rau Eco and Cultural Tourism enterprise (Tanzania)
• 7.  Run Africa (Ethiopia
• 8.  Runnar Tech (China)
• 9.  Shambit (Iran/Germany)
• 10. Sky-Pic (Israel/Austria)
• 11. ViaVii (Jordan)

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