UNWTO Acceleration Programme

The UNWTO Acceleration Programme is a training event especially designed for our Member States' tourism officials, travel associations, tourism boards, DMOs, in order to develop innovation and digital transformation skills and provide practical tools for project implementation. It will be an open space for knowledge sharing and networking.

It will be held on Thursday16 and Friday 17 of January 2020 in Madrid, Spain.

It will be led by the Innovation, Investments and Digital Transformation Department and a team of outstanding speakers which have designed masterclasses, workshops, case studies and a technical visit for our participants.

SAVE THE DATE!

Thursday 16thJanuary

Venue: Barrabés Growth Space

Address:Méndez Álvaro Street, 9, Floor 0

08:45 – 09:30 Accreditation

09:30 – 09:50 Opening

Natalia Bayona

Senior Expert on Innovation, Investments and Digital Transformation, UNWTO

09:50 – 10:30 Keynote speech

Innovation: leading change in tourism

Natalia Bayona

Senior Expert on Innovation, Investments and Digital Transformation, UNWTO

10:30 – 10:45 Keynote speech

The power of innovation hubs

Leticia Lauffer, Director, Wakalua Hub

10:45 – 11:30 Masterclass

Digital transformation on the loop

Kevin Sigliano

Director of Good Rebels and Admira Digital Networks

Associate Professor, IE School of Human Sciences and Technology

11:30 – 12:00 Coffee break

12:00 – 13:30 Masterclass and workshop

From startups to scaleups: the power of helping entrepreneurs to grow

Joe Haslam

Academic Director, Saudi Scaleup Program

Academic Director, Global Scaleup Program, American University of Beirut

Associate professor, IE Business School

13:30 – 14:30 Free time for lunch

14:30 – 15:00 Keynote speech

Supporting entrepreneurship is worth it

Pedro Jareño Algobia

Mentor in residence, Wayra

Minube, Cofounder

Former Startups Lead Spain & Top University Lead Spain and Italy, Microsoft

15:00 – 15:45 Best practices and case studies

Govtech ecosystems: a new way to foster digital innovation in governments

Idoia Ortiz de Artiñano

Managing Director, PublicTech Lab at IE University

Friday 17thJanuary

Venue: Wayra Innovation Hub

Address:Valverde Street, 2, Floor 8, Telefónica Building

(entrance near Gran Vía Street)

08:45 – 09:30 Accreditation

09:30 – 10:30 Innovation Hub Dive

Wayra Innovation Hub

*Paloma Castellano, Director, Wayra Madrid

Public-Private Innovation

*Jorge Marcos, Chief of Innovation, Renfe

*Boyd Cohen, Co-founder of Iomob

10:30 – 10:40 Keynote Speech

Destination Management - new ways new opportunities

Sandra Carvao, Chief of Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness

10:40 – 11:25 Masterclass

Smart destinations: working to reach the UN SDG Goals!

Antonio López de Ávila

Co-founder and CEO, Tourism Data Driven Solutions (TDDS)

President of Turisfera, Cluster de Innovación Turística de Canarias

11:25 – 12:45 Workshop

How to create a successful Smart Destination

*Edurne Vidal Lopez

Chief of Smart Tourism Destinations Project, SEGITTUR

*Elisa Domenech, SEGITTUR

12:45 – 13:15 Coffee Break

13:15 – 13:30 Keynote speech

Portugal as a top driver of the tourism innovation ecosystem

Sérgio Guerreiro

Senior Director of Knowledge Management & Innovation, Turismo de Portugal

13:30 – 14:15 Workshop

Government innovation actions on the ground

María Claudia Lacouture

Director of the American Chamber of Colombia (AmCham) Former Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia

14:15 – 15:00 Best practices and case studies

How to build a corporate venture capital strategy with the government support

Javier González-Soria y Moreno de la Santa

CEO and Executive Vicepresident, Top Seeds Lab

Founder and managing partner, Travel Tech

Founder and editor, Travelthink

15:00 – 15:15 Closing and Diplomas

Natalia Bayona, Senior Expert on Innovation, Investments and Digital Transformation, UNWTO