ĐÀ NẴNG — The central city’s Sông Hàn Incubator has launched the first ever tourism start-up programme.

Director of the Sông Hàn Incubator Centre Lý Đình Quân, presented the programme at a press conference yesterday.

He said Việt Nam has a potential resource in tourism, but the sector has not yet built up its own nationwide value chain and connections among tourism enterprises as well as foreign partners and investors.

“We aim to enrol the first ten start-up businesses to join a value chain in tourism between April and November. They will themselves build up new ideas and innovations in setting up their businesses for future development, with a total fund of VNĐ80 million (US$3,500) each, and support on legal issues, information technology, marketing and trade,” Quân said. “The best consultants and experts are invited to give support and guidance as well as training,” he said.

Quân said the programme will help connect businesses operating in the fields of travel, hospitality, transport, craft villages and information technology in a value of chain.

He said this would help reduce travel cost, while improving quality and competitive capacity among tourism enterprises in Việt Nam.

The programme has also received sponsorship from the Việt Nam Mentors Initiative, I-Angel, Women’s Initiative for Start-up Enterprise and Swiss SP.

Phạm Lê Nhật Quang, senior investment manager of the Việt Nam Investment Group, said the group manages a fund $500,000 to support start-up businesses in Việt Nam. He said new ideas and innovation by start-up enterprises would benefit from the fund’s financial support.

Tạ Anh Tuấn, a senior expert from the Netherlands’ PUM company, said his company could provide consultancy for start-up businesses in Việt Nam and help connect with foreign partners.

The programme hopes that at least 50 per cent of start-up businesses succeed in the last pitching opportunity later this year, and new ideas and innovations in business tourism development will emerge.

Last year, the central city began its start-up and entrepreneurship development by offering the start-up ecosystem, policies and investment support activities.

Đà Nẵng has 18,000 businesses, of which 95 per cent are small and medium-sized enterprises. — VNS