Part of our mission is to foster and support innovative ideas and early-stage businesses, in order to create a continuous flow of technological startups in the tourism industry. The prospects of both the Greek and global markets are promising and we are committed to helping innovation thrive, for the benefit of all stakeholders in the industry in Greece. The Ideas Platform will be implemented mostly through competitions or hackathons and is aimed at young graduates/postgraduate students from the country's schools, young unemployed executives and new businesses in a very early stage of activity, with a technological and entrepreneurial background. Participants will be required to work on finding solutions to practical problems related to the tourism sector. The general framework will be determined after research and interviews with industry leaders and business executives, in order to identify specific needs and “difficulties” in tourism. The goal for participants will be to find business ideas that can solve problems in the industry, by implementing technological solutions. Ultimately, we are looking for ideas that can become startups and potentially join the Acceleration Program in the future.

Eligible candidates, in order to secure a place in the program, should be teams with an innovative business idea related to the tourism and hospitality industry that will require the use of technology to be implemented. Team members must be over 18 and up to 35 years old, graduates/postgraduate students in relevant fields such as Natural Sciences, Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Business Administration, Economics, Tourism Management and so on. Candidate teams should not have received any other funding, except for a first round of funding/or from friends and family (not exceeding 50,000 euros). In case they have already started a company, the establishment period should be less than 6 months from the date of application for participation in the program.