Tourism Ministry Holds 1st Start-Up Competition, Eco-Nubia Wins

For the first time in Egypt, the Ministry of Tourism held on Monday a start-up competition powered by RiseUp on the fringe of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Tourism Tech Adventure Forum, held in Cairo.

The winner start-up was Eco-Nubia, while the second place went to Tripdizer. The Untold start-up was ranked in the third place.Under the supervision of local and international juries, Egyptian and Arab start-ups presented their projects, aiming at how to deploy technology in favor of boosting the tourism industry in Egypt and all over the world.

Twelve competitors, including nine Egyptian ones and other three from the Middle East region, showed how their ideas could be effective.

Let's summarize information on the competitors;

•  The first start-up was Jordan Ranger Camp, a Jordanian eco-tourism center, that offers outdoor activities in forests like adventure and challenge activities. The resort consists of 10 nature-friendly chalets and tree houses. It bears a slogan titled "Back to Nature.

Thair Ayyash, who is the camp's owner, said that its project's goal is to attract 5,000 clients per year, announcing its official opening in May 2019.

•   Egypt's Eco Nubia, founded in January 2018, was the second start-up. The project is based on converting old abundant Nubian houses, located on an Island in front of Philae Temple, into an ecolodge.

Eco Nubia's CEO and Founder Ahmed Yehia stated that his project's role model is based on promoting Eco-tourism and Eco-friendly hospitality and highlighting the natural and cultural treasures.

"The ecolodge has a restaurant which offers Nubian food," Yehia noted, adding about 20,000 visitors had toured the camp and he is looking forward to opening new ecolodges in other places in Egypt and the Middle East.

• The third start-up was Fujtown of the United Arab of Emirates. The tourism consultant company, based in Fujairah, focuses on organizing tours to the old districts and unknown places in Fujairah.

It helps the tourists to get acquainted by the UAE main traditions which are unfamiliar to people.

• Lebanese Wanderer was the fourth start-up which aims at promoting rural tourism in Lebanon, especially the Lebanese villages. It works at three levels; video production, tours and event management.

Represented by Sari Haddad, the company's founder, the start-up links between the tourists and the villages' residents, so training the locals is very important as they are the project's main partners. Haddad said: "The company's business traction reached about $40,000.

•  Egypt's BOKDOC, which was the fifth competitor, provides the first online healthcare platform that collects a lot of healthcare services in one place.

"The start-up is the first medical tourism application in the region. It offers booking surgeries, telemedicine, and clinic appointments from our partners, including 18 hospitals and more than 800 doctors and medical centers, around the world, not Egypt only," according to Ahmed El Awady, BOKDOC's founder and CEO.

Awady noted that the start-up seeks to raise a fund worth $1.5 million to keep its operations ongoing this year.

•  GO-V Studios, the sixth start-up, introduce Egypt's hidden gems in amazing technology through using 360-degree imagery, videos, Google 360-view and Virtual Reality (VR).

The company's CEO and Founder Ahmed Hussein said: "GO-V application, backed by five languages, covered more than 3,000 scenes and more than one million views on Google Street View profile.

•  Egypt's Ithaka, the seventh start-up, is a company of hosteling service by offering cheap hostels and holding city-based events. The company is set to launch a website and a mobile app to provide information and trip consultancy for tourists.

Samir Talaat, who is the company's CEO, said that Ithaka achieved an average rating of 9.5/10 on different channels, adding the top bookings come from ten countries around the world.

•  Safaria, the eighth start-up, is the first hunt tour operator in Egypt which is mainly focusing on extreme activities.

Ahmed Hashish, the company's CEO, stated that Safaria succeeded in selling 7.5 million tickets.

•  Tazcara, the ninth start-up, is a bus tickets booking platform as they are working on combing all bus operators online.

The start-up CEO and Founder Aley El-Dean Adham said: "about 7.5 million tickets were sold."

•  Tripdizer, the tenth start-up, is a travel tech company which create tours for youth who are interested in using technology and saving time.

Ziad Al Adaway, the company's CEO, noted that Tripdizer gained 4.8/5 reviews and has plans to expand its operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

• The Untold, the eleventh start-up, aims to turn Egypt into an open air museum where tourists could directly integrate with the touristic ecosystem using bone conduction technology.

Radwa Hamed, the Founder of Untold, said that such kind of technology is based on bringing archaeological statues into life through a system which allows the tourists to listen to a detailed explanation about the statues' history via Bluetooth.

Hamed cited that about 7.27 million tourists use technology during their visit to Egypt. She added that the start-up is still in the prototype phase but they are seeking fundraising worth $100,000.Vrteek, the twelfth start-up, is a VR/AR company which focuses on returning the time back in Egypt through Egypt Time Machine.Rania Al Mashat, the tourism minister, expressed her happiness for watching all these incredible activities and energies, saying "They did a fantastic job with great persity and usage of new technologies."

Mashat stressed the importance of digital solutions in boosting the tourism industry in Egypt, wishing the event could achieve her main goal in the ministry which is changing the narratives of Egyptian tourism.