Drive innovation in sustainable travel with Booking.com

grants from a 2 million fund, expert coaching, access to nework Deadline passed

Get in the Ring and Booking.com are looking for startups with demonstrable impact in the sustainable travel sector to scale their business and impact globally. By investing their time, expertise and capital into promising social enterprise startups, Booking.com wants to work together with startups to build a more sustainable future for the global travel industry.

 

Established in 1996 in Amsterdam, Booking.com has grown from a small Dutch startup to one of the largest travel e-commerce companies in the world. With a mission to empower people to experience the world, Booking.com invests in digital technology that helps take the friction out of travel. At Booking.com, they connect travellers with the world’s largest selection of incredible places to stay, including everything from apartments, vacation homes, and family-run B&Bs to 5-star luxury resorts, tree houses and even igloos. The Booking.com website and mobile apps are available in over 40 languages, offer 28,969,093 total reported listings, and cover 143,132 destinations in 230 countries and territories worldwide. Booking.com now employs more than 17,000 employees in 198 offices in 70 countries worldwide.

 

Booking seeks to contribute to the ongoing health of the travel destinations so that future generations can continue to enjoy them for years to come. To make a positive, lasting impression on the global travel industry, they believe that meaningful change can only come about through strategic and deliberate collaboration throughout the entire ecosystem. Therefore they believe that, by investing their time, energy and passion in the right projects and backing the right people with the right ideas, they can help accelerate discovery and scale solutions to communities and destinations worldwide.

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THE CHALLENGE

Booking.com supports ambitious startups that drive innovation in sustainable tourism. Through the Booking.com Booster Programme, Booking.com identifies and empowers startups that help relieve pressure on overcrowded tourist areas, businesses that positively impact the environment and social ventures that are supporting local communities in the tourism industry. Booking.com is calling startups from around the world that are building technology-driven solutions to sustainable travel challenges in the following categories:

CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCES

Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.

INCLUSIVE TOURISM

Booking.com believes that when travel is unique, inclusive, meaningful and local, everyone benefits. Therefore they’re looking for new and innovative opportunities that empower local communities to fully benefit form the potential of the travel industry and initiatives to increase accessibility in tourism so that everyone can enjoy the pleasure of travelling.

PRESERVE & PROMOTE LOCAL CULTURE

Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their tangible and intangible cultural heritage and traditional values and contribute to intercultural understanding and tolerance.

TOURISM DISPERSAL

Mass tourism can lead to overcrowding and homogenized experiences, often building barriers between travellers and authentic local life instead of removing them. That’s why they're looking for ways to inspire travellers to broaden their scope and explore new regions - while helping to relieve pressure on overcrowded tourist areas.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU

  • Land grants up to €100-500k, part of in total a €2 million fund.

  • 3-week accelerator program as a guest of Booking.com at HQ in Amsterdam.

  • A dedicated Booking.com mentor during the programme and for 12 months after.

  • One-on-one sessions with high-level experts at Booking.com.

  • More than 30 sessions on leadership, investor readiness, customer development, networking, marketing, product development, pitching, social impact strategy and more, all delivered by our top trainers.

ADDITIONAL CRITERIA

Your business should:

  • Have a proven business model with demonstrable local impact and a readiness to scale.

  • Be registered as a for-profit entity.

  • Be generating revenue (not exceeding €1.5 million annually).

TIMELINE

DECEMBER 2ND

DEADLINE APPLICATIONS


The deadline for applications is December 2nd.
JANUARY 7-18TH

PHONE INTERVIEWS


Shortlisted startups will be invited for a short phone interview between January 7th and 18th.
FEBRUARY 1ST

ANNOUNCEMENT SELECTED STARTUPS


The announcement of selected startups for the Booking.com Booster program will be done February 1st.
APRIL 23TH TO MAY 10TH

BOOKING BOOSTER


Between 8-10 selected startups will be invited to the HQ of Booking.com for a 3-week program in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Transportation and accomodation cost are covered.
Deadline passed

The deadline for this Challenge has passed, please check out our other Challenges