HCM CITY — Tourism accelerator Mekong Innovative Startup Tourism has announced a list of four recipients of the 2017 Mekong Business Initiative Innovation Grants.

GoP, a travel tech start-up from Myanmar, took the top prize and will receive USD $10,000.

Artisan Origins by TAEC, a social enterprise from Laos, Cambodia’s Camboticket, and Việt Nam’s Chameleon City, both travel tech startups, will all receive US$7,000.

Nguyễn Thị Hương Liên and Nguyễn Thị Thu from I Love Asia Tour and Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh from Morning Rooms conferred the WISE Women’s Leadership Awards, and will enjoy mentorship through the Việt Nam’s Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship.

“MIST is globally unique in how it integrates the Greater Mekong Subregion’s travel start-ups into an eco-system for sustainable tourism development,” Jens Thraenhart, executive director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office and organiser of the Mekong Tourism Forum, said.

“The entrepreneurs I have met through MIST have convinced me that tourism in our region has a very bright future.”

MIST began in December 2016 as a joint venture between the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office and the Government of Australia and the Asian Development Bank-supported Mekong Business Initiative.

It includes a start-up accelerator for early-stage startups from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Việt Nam. It also includes a market access programme for mature start-ups based anywhere in the world that want MIST’s assistance in localising proven tourism products and solutions in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

MIST received more than 250 applications in 2017. — VNS