MIST demists start-up challenges

HO CHI MINH CITY A new initiative will support tourism start-ups in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, according to the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office.

The Mekong Innovative Startup Tourism (MIST) initiative invites start-ups to participate in a contest to develop solutions for identified tourism market opportunities.

Winners will be matched with suitable investors.

(L-R) DNES deputy CEO Nguyen Tran, ADB MBI Head Dominic Mellor, and MTCO executive director Jens Thraenhart launch MIST in Ho Chi Minh City late last week.

The first MIST reverse hackathon and tourism start-up competition will take place in Danang in early 2017.

The official organisers of MIST are the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) and the Mekong Business Initiative (MBI).

MTCO receives funding from the governments of Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. MBI receives funding from the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Australia.

In Vietnam, MIST wlll launch the Danang Business Incubator (DNES). Partners include the Seoul Global Start-up Centre and the Swiss Government funded SECO Entrepreneurship Program.

“The Greater Mekong Subregion is a magnet for tourism, but accelerating tourist volumes have also brought challenges to drive inclusive growth. The region will need to develop and innovate if it is to sustain today’s growth over the long term,” said Jens Thraenhart, executive director of the MTCO.

The MIST programme works with local tourism industry players to identify critical industry challenges and bottlenecks. It then solicits global solutions from experienced innovators, encourage exchanges between global providers and start-ups and structures competitions among start-up teams.

The best start-up teams from across the region’s four countries will be invited to an intensive boot camp and Demo Day at the 2017 Mekong Tourism Forum in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. The best Vietnamese start-ups will be invited to a Demo Day at the APEC Investment Summit in November 2017 in Danang, Vietnam.