Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) continues to inspire future technology leaders within the tourism industry at GITEX Future Stars 2019, the Middle East, North Africa & South Asia’s biggest start-up event and part of the GITEX Technology Week.  Hosted from 6 to 9 October at Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai Tourism will be hosting a variety of industry presentations, talks and workshops exploring global travel trends and how the emirate can continue pioneering the digitalisation of the industry, as part of its Futurism Programme 2019. This will include highlighting the increasing global appeal of the city as a business and commercial hub, as well as discussing incubation support and opportunities for innovators that prioritise digitally disruptive technologies.

The Futurism Programme 2019 reinforces the Department’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the emirate’s digital and entrepreneurial capabilities in line with the 10x initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to propel the city 10 years ahead of world cities. Empowering emerging entrepreneurs to discover transformative tourism experiences for the emirate, the accelerator initiative is in collaboration with leading professional services company Accenture (NYSE: ACN), with 10 shortlisted participants in the process of fine-tuning, and finalising innovative concepts and pilot projects for special pitch presentations to selected corporations, investors and venture capitalists during the event. The winning start-up and runner-up will be announced on 8 October at GITEX Future Stars, and stand to win a prize totalling AED 100,000, as well as licensing, relevant visas in Dubai, office space and the opportunity to secure potential future funding.

The 10 shortlisted start-ups participating in the programme’s boot camps include:

• Ads-Flight, who are analysing the advertising that is targeted towards air passengers at the time of their departures and arrivals
• Chatdesk, which features a suite of products for driving service to sales and scaling support efficiencies;
• Cerebri Al, who measure customer engagement to drive efficiencies through real-time recommendations;
• Ariadne Maps, who provide precise analytics that can enable businesses to measure customer conversion rate, quantify their product success, estimate the customer bounce rate, and determine advertisement success
• Airlines Technology, who are offering services to aviation operators and travel agents to improve the buying experience, to drive higher revenue
• Stayology, who are solving travel decision making by providing relevant suggestions and single bookings across the world
• Stayhopper, who are offering customers the flexibility to book hotel rooms by the hour and choose the time of check-in
• Xandar Kardian, who are providing solutions for smart buildings, security and healthcare by utilising digital radar signal processing algorithm technology
• Omniflow, who are providing a smart energy platform powered by wind and solar with integrated energy storage for IoT applications
• Further Network, who are developing a Blockchain based Peer-2-Peer network that aims to simplify and reduce the costs of transactions in travel.

Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director – Tourism Development & Investments, Dubai Tourism commented: “Dubai has grown into one of the leading business capitals of the region and continues to actively strengthen its position as an entrepreneurial hub globally. Our presence at GITEX Future Stars is testament to the commitment we have to empowering the industry, to innovate next-gen technologies that can optimise the implementation of innovative business models across the city’s travel and tourism sector. The Futurism Programme 2019 takes us another step closer to realising the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and we aim to continue to encourage pioneering thinking that can drive innovative solutions to meet evolving traveller needs whilst tackling industry gaps.”

In addition to Accenture, the Futurism Programme 2019 also has the support of key industry partners and investors representing a broad spectrum of sectors, from travel to hospitality, aviation to legal, finance to technology and transportation. Partners include strategic partner; Seera Group and industry partners; Atlantis The Palm, Emaar Hospitality Group, the Emirates Group and Accor Hotels. The partnership network also includes Microsoft, Alteryx, Amazon, Wamda, MEVP, Shorooq Investments, Dentons, Clyde&Co, Careem, Dubai SME, Middle East Venture Partners.