The "Welcome City Lab" incubator dedicated to innovation in tourism launches its 2015 call for applications.
After the success of the first two calls for projects that led to the selection of the 30 startups in its 2014 class, the Welcome City Labthe incubator dedicated to innovation in tourism at Paris Région Lab, is launching its call for applications for the 2015 promotion covering the strategic areas defined with its supporters and founders, Aéroports de Paris, Air France, Amadeus, Galeries Lafayette, Skyboard, Sodexo Prestige, Viparis, Paris City Hall, BpiFrance, and the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau.
This call is aimed at innovative companies in the start-up phase of less than 3 years, in the process of developing an offer or having already finalised a first product/service offer and having validated its adequacy with the market, through a preliminary study or with at least one beta tester/customer.
Projects must exclusively cover the following areas :
- Improvement of reception: Taking into account specific needs (families, disabled, young people, non-French speaking), Involvement of Parisians and local players in reception, Management of expectations and flows, Sustainable mobility solutions.
- Business tourism and major events : Reception of international customers, Connection between events and the tourism offer, Innovative services and products for events, Connectivity and indoor/outdoor geolocation, Flow management and logistics
- Creation of new experiences in physical places: Dynamisation of shop windows and creation of spaces with interactive equipment, Interactions between digital and face-to-face experience, New concepts of activity and hosting, Breakthrough technologies (augmented or virtual reality, service robotics...).
- Sharing and optimizing the tourist experience: New tracking tools and algorithms, inspiration and sharing, Big Data and associated uses, Acquisition and customer relationship solutions, Dematerialization of time-consuming processes and automated paid services, Wearable devices and the Internet of Things applied to the travel and hospitality industry.
- Nightlife, a source of innovation: Access and dissemination of information relating to the events agenda, Democratisation of access to nightlife, New concepts of activities and night places.
Criteria such as the innovative nature, economic potential, credibility of the business plan, capacity to create jobs in Paris, contribution to the attractiveness of tourism, potential for spreading innovation beyond Parisian tourism and the complementarity of the project leaders will also contribute to the choice of winners.
This call is open until midnight on Sunday 15 February 2015. The call for applications and the list of items to be provided in order to apply are available at www.welcomecitylab.com. Selected companies will be able to join the Welcome City Lab from April 2015 depending on availability.
Companies in the take-off phase, not targeted by this call for projects, can, of course, apply to the Welcome City Lab according to the "run-of-the-water" process. straight to the website.
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About us
Paris, the world's leading tourist destination, aims to invent the tourism of the future and to be the capital of tourism innovation. The Welcome City Lab is a programme to stimulate innovation in tourism, integrating the world's first incubator dedicated to this sector. It was created by Paris Region Lab, with the support of the City of Paris, BpiFrance and the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau. Its founding members are Aéroports de Paris, Air France, Amadeus, Galeries Lafayette, Skyboard, Sodexo Prestige, and Viparis.
welcomecitylab.com
