UN Tourism Artificial Intelligence Challenge

With AI and advanced technologies reshaping the travel industry, 2024 presents a key moment to redefine tourism. As international travel reaches full recovery, the challenge focuses on using AI to improve personalized services, streamline operations, and elevate customer engagement, delivering scalable solutions that bring measurable results.

The UN Secretary-General's report highlights the need for accessible technology and AI solutions that close the digital divide. This vision drives the UN Tourism AI & Deep Tech Start-up & Scale-Up Challenge, which aims to spark innovation in tourism with practical, high-impact AI applications across the tourism value chain.

Objectives

Innovate: Support AI-driven solutions that enhance efficiency and transform traveler experiences across the tourism ecosystem.
Adopt: Ensure AI adoption is equitable, providing access to all communities and fostering widespread participation and benefits from these technologies.
Drive Growth: Foster AI solutions that optimize operations and improve service delivery, benefiting stakeholders across the industry.
Collaborate: Unify governments, industries, and experts to advance AI’s role in addressing tourism’s key challenges.
Shape the Future: Use AI to meet user demands, from optimizing logistics to enhancing the visitor experience, reinforcing tourism as a driver of economic growth.

CATEGORIES

1. Branding, Promotion & Marketing

Elevating Brand Value: Reputation, Branding & Marketing Focus on enhancing destination branding and promotion through the use of AI and deep technologies. This category emphasizes innovative solutions that not only boost brand value but also promote sustainable practices, preserve cultural heritage, and improve the visitor experience, all while maintaining global appeal and authenticity.

2. Smart Destinations & Deep Technologies

Integrated Tech for Smart Destinations: Creating Cohesive Experiences Harness integrated technologies to create seamless and sustainable visitor experiences at smart destinations. This category targets innovations that optimize destination management, improving operational efficiency and sustainability through AI, green and deep tech solutions, while elevating the quality of the tourist experience.

3. Education & Technology

EdTech for Tourism: Empowering Sustainable futures Utilize AI and digital platforms to enhance education and training in the tourism sector. This category focuses on fostering professional development and sustainable career paths, equipping tourism professionals with the skills needed to implement eco-friendly practices and support long-term sustainable tourism growth.

4. Efficiency & Operations

Tourism Flow Management & Cross-Border Efficiency Leverage AI and deep technologies to manage tourism flows and improve cross-border travel efficiency. This category emphasizes solutions that use data analytics to balance visitor distribution, minimize environmental impacts, and enhance the overall quality of visitor experiences, while ensuring secure and seamless travel operations.

The UN Tourism AI & Deep Tech Start-up & Scale-Up Challenge is strategically aimed at start up & scale-ups that have already demonstrated significant potential in the tourism or technology sectors and are poised for their next stage of growth. These are companies that have moved beyond the initial startup phase, with proven business models, established customer bases, and a track record of innovation. The target scale-ups should meet the following criteria:

1. Technological Innovation and Readiness

Proven Technological Readiness: Demonstrated deployment of advanced, AI-driven or emerging technologies that are market-ready and address real-world challenges.
Ethical AI and Compliance: Adherence to international regulations like GDPR, focusing on data security and ethical AI practices.

2. Market Validation and Business Viability

Sustainable Business Model: a strong strategy to minimize risk and the capability to sustainably expand operations.
Growth Stage with Market Traction: Strong market presence with proven revenue streams, demonstrating customer demand and effective solutions to real-world applications.
Financial Stability: Robust financial backing and stability to support long-term growth.

3. Global Reach and Scalability

Global Scalability and Adaptability: Vision and readiness to scale solutions globally, with the ability to customize them for diverse geographic and regulatory environments.
Collaboration Readiness: Engagement in strategic partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaborations to advance responsible AI use in tourism.

4. Sustainability and Social Impact

Commitment to Sustainability: Dedication to practices that support environmental conservation and contribute to the SDGs.
Social Impact and Inclusivity: Technologies that promote inclusivity, enhancing accessibility and cultural exchange.
Impact Measurement and Reporting: Systems for measuring and reporting the impact of their solutions on sustainability and SDGs.

Participating startups will be assessed according to their:

Ease of value capture
Scalability
Potential business impact
Maturity of the product/technology
Maturity of the team and the organization
Partnership readiness
Contribution to the selected Sustainable Development Goals

Benefits for winning startups include but are not limited to:

Pitch at the UN TOURISM Demo Day
Acceleration Programme at SPARK, the Innovation Sphere of Les Roches
Access to 90+ Venture Capitalists
Access to Top Corporations and 150+ Countries
Curated mentorship programmes
Potential pilot project with private sector collaborators and institutions
Plug and Play will offer a registered profile on Playbook, an invitation to participate in our Silicon Valley Summit, and access to talent and synergies with their Portfolio

Applicants are advised to adhere to the following steps to ensure their submission meets the criteria of the Challenge:

Review Challenge Guidelines: Thoroughly read and understand the Terms & Conditions of the Challenge available on our website to ensure compliance with all requirements.
Selection of Category: Carefully select the category under which your submission will be evaluated. Ensure that your project aligns with the specified category's objectives.
Prepare a Pitch Deck: Develop a concise and compelling pitch deck in English, limited to no more than 15 slides, that clearly outlines the problem, solution, impact, and business model of your project.
Compile Information: Provide a complete list of your organization's web page, social media handles, and essential contact information to facilitate effective communication.
Submission of Application: Once your materials are prepared and reviewed, complete the Application Form in English. The form is accessible on our official website and should be submitted by the specified deadline.

Read here terms and conditions

Feel free to contact us for any inquiries at iei@unwto.org with the subject: "AI Challenge UN Tourism"