Nominate Travel Startups from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to the 2019 MIST - Mekong Innovative Startup Tourism program. Two finalists from each country will be invited to the MIST 2019 Workshop on October 8 and to pitch on October 9 in Bangkok.

Know of a Mekong-based company with a cool innovation for tourism and/or travel? Nominate that company before end of August to make sure it gets into a cool mentorship programme - Mekong Innovative Startups in Tourism, or MIST in short.

Innovative startups in tourism are getting recognition, mentorship and a boost for their funds through the Mekong Innovative Startups in Tourism. Picture courtesy: MIST 2018

MIST seeks to support and integrate travel startups from the six member countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion into the travel and tourism ecosystem to ensure Innovation in a globally competitive tourism industry. This could be in any of these areas, and it does not necessarily have to be technologically driven:

o Personalization of the travel and hospitality experience.

o Better security for travellers and their transactions.

o Multimodal transportation planning and booking.

o Regional connectivity between destinations in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

o Better payments models throughout the travel value chain (B2C and B2B).

o Facilities, asset, and inventory management for hotels and resorts.

o Reduced environmental impact.

o Enhanced customer experiences in travel and hospitality.

o Automation in hotels and resorts.

o Improved conversions for booking platforms.

o Solutions for over development and “over tourism.”

MIST was able to attract nearly 500 applications and millions of social shares in the first three years. Recognizing both travel tech ventures and social enterprises, MIST is an important contribution to sustainable tourism development, inclusive growth, and gender equality.

The 2019 MIST Showcase, integrated with the Travel Startups Asia Forum, features the final pitching competition of the ten startups from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as startup stories from past MIST alumni.

The 2019 MIST Showcase and Travel Startups Asia Forum will be in Bangkok on October 9, and is open to travel companies and investors interested in connecting with travel startups in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

MIST is managed by the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office as a co-venture between the Mekong Business Initiative and MTCO, funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Australian government.