Startup Guernsey and Visit Guernsey are inviting islanders to join in a Tourism Ideathon to develop new projects for the local tourism industry. Teams who enter the competition will have the opportunity to receive support from local tourism and industry experts to develop their idea into a fully-fledged project.
The Ideathon initiative will run over two evenings on 14 and 15 November as part of a series of events taking place in Guernsey to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week.
There are five prizes of £1,000 to be won for each of the five project categories, sponsored by local and off island businesses. Categories are focused on exploring innovative ways of engaging with potential new visitors, as well as encouraging existing visitors to recommend Guernsey to their friends and relatives.
The Modern Traditional category is sponsored by Sarnia Hotels, who will also host the Ideathon and provide food for the two evenings of the event at Moores Hotel; this category invites projects that develop modern ways to engage traditional Guernsey offerings.
JT will be sponsoring the Pure Innovation category, inviting projects that generate new innovations to engage visitors. Creative and digital agency, TPA, will be sponsoring the Victor Hugo category, encouraging projects that maximise Guernsey’s link to Victor Hugo. PwC is to sponsor the All Weather category, aiming to reward the best project to engender visitor engagement, whatever the Guernsey weather. And finally, Manchester-based brand, content and creative agency Vivid, will sponsor the prize for the project that best generates shareable Instagramable Moments.
Each winning project will receive £1,000 towards the setup of the project idea, plus further support from Startup Guernsey, Visit Guernsey and the sponsors, to make their idea a reality.
Jennifer Strachan, CEO of Startup Guernsey, said: “Like most residents I love Guernsey and want more visitors to come to experience the beauty, history and great food of the island. Startup Guernsey supports new businesses, but we recognise that it is sometimes difficult to get a good idea off the ground without support. We are so grateful to the local business community and our off island sponsor for getting behind this new initiative to help kick start some of the great ideas we have heard about. We are looking forward to seeing what creative ideas come forward, and in providing further support afterwards to help these ideas become a reality.”
Anita Walker from Visit Guernsey said: “Visit Guernsey is delighted to be co-organising the Tourism Ideathon with Startup Guernsey. As well as contributing significantly to employment and our local economy, tourism helps support and sustain the vast array of restaurants, eateries, shops and attractions that our local community so enjoys as part of everyday life. We believe the Ideathon will enable innovation within the tourism industry, as well as engage the local population in this increasingly important segment of our island’s economy.”
If you have a good idea for a project to improve local tourism, get more information and sign up now to the Tourism Ideathon at www.startup.gg/events
