2022 ASTA Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Calling All Travel Entrepreneurs. This is your chance
 to win $10,000!

Sponsored by the Dan and Gloria Bohan Foundation

New intro copy coming from Erika -- May 11, 2022.

Are you passionate about your new travel endeavor? Do you have an idea that will chance the travel landscape? Great! Let us help fund your venture.

This award has been created to recognize people like YOU. Three lucky finalists will appear on center stage at ASTA Global Convention (AGC) in San Francisco, California, August 24-26, 2022 at to participate in a live, “Shark Tank” style competition to see who will win the $10,000 case prize. Each participant will have three minutes to make a pitch to our panel of travel experts and industry veteran judges. Over a thousand travel professionals will be watching your presentation.

Past Winners Include

About the Award

Entrepreneur of the Year Award was established in 2015 by the Dan and Gloria Bohan Foundation to promote the entrepreneurial spirit in the travel and hospitality industry through recognition of innovators who have either established their own businesses or who have been responsible for significant entrepreneurial initiatives within an existing organization. Each year, the Foundation, in conjunction with ASTA staff and membership, selects one person or organization that best exemplifies this spirit of entrepreneurship to receive the Award and a $10,000 cash prize. After a two-year hiatus, the Entrepreneur of the Year Award is back for 2022.

Eligibility

All travel agents, agency managers, suppliers, and others in the travel and hospitality industry are eligible to receive the Award.

Evaluation Criteria

Nominees for the Award will be evaluated based on consideration of eight benchmarks demonstrating various aspects of the successful candidate’s innovative and entrepreneurial approach to the business and its future. The benchmarks, in no particular order, are as follows:

1. Sustainability. How many years has the nominee been active in the travel industry? How many consumers or companies use the nominee’s innovative product or service?
2. Evolution. How has the nominee or the nominee’s company adapted to change in the industry or market, and to changes in technology? Why was this important and how was it accomplished? What steps are taken to ensure that the product or service remains relevant?
3. Experiential Travel. Does the nominee’s product or service have an experiential fit, focus or component connecting the experience to history, people or culture? Describe and explain its importance in today’s world and for the future of travel.
4. Proven Impact. How has the product or service already had a demonstrable impact on travelers and the industry as a whole? Why will the innovation continue to impact travelers in the future?
5. Curation. Does the nominee envision himself or herself as a travel curator, one who makes travel more meaningful for the traveler? If so, please tell us and explain why this is important to the nominee.
6. Marketing. Describe how the nominee markets or merchandises its company and its products or services. How does the nominee differentiate itself from others in the industry? Has social media factored into the marketing focus?
7. Growth. Has the innovation had a positive impact on the company’s sales, profitability, or market share? Has the product or service spawned imitators?
8. Technology. Describe the technology behind the product or service. For example, does the solution include the use of mobile apps or similar recent innovations? How has product usability been a factor?

Entry Period

Entries will be accepted online beginning on May 9, 2022 and ending on June 30, 2022.

Required Submission

Persons or organizations that wish to be considered for the Award must submit all of the following:

• The completed online application setting forth the nominee’s name and/or company name and contact information;
• A narrative statement, not to exceed 500 words, describing the nominee’s contribution to entrepreneurship in the industry and illustrating it relates to the benchmarks described above;
• A video, of no more than five minutes in length, which describes and/or demonstrates the innovative product or service and its value when viewed in light of the benchmarks. The video must be uploaded to a file sharing site, such as YouTube, Vimeo or DropBox. Just send us the link.
• Certification that, if selected as one of five semi-finalists, the nominee will participate in an ASTA Facebook Live event, to be held on July 27, 2022; and
• Further certification that, if selected as one of the three finalists, the nominee will participate in the Entrepreneur of the Year session at the ASTA Global Convention (AGC) in San Francisco, California, August 24-26, 2022 (session date and time TBD).

Selection of Semi-Finalists

Selection of Finalists

Each of the five semi-finalists will have an opportunity to showcase their innovation by making their presentation via an ASTA member-only Facebook Live event on July 27. Following presentations by each semi-finalist, the participating members will then cast their vote for the candidate that they believe best exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship in travel.

The candidates receiving the highest, second highest, and third highest number of votes will be designated as finalists and move on to the Entrepreneur of the Year session at AGC to compete for the $10,000 prize. The non-finalist with the greatest number of votes will be designated as an alternate and will be invited to participate at AGC should one of the three finalists be unable to attend.       

The Competition

The three finalists will participate in a live competition at AGC. After a brief introduction of the participants, each finalist will be given approximately five minutes to make his or her presentation. Our Master of Ceremonies and fellow entrepreneur, Sandra McLemore, will then question the finalist regarding the strengths, weaknesses, and other aspects of the innovation or concept, and why it is worthy of being judged the year’s best representation of entrepreneurship in the industry.  

Following the presentations and questioning, each member of the audience will be entitled to cast their vote.  The finalist receiving the greatest share of total audience vote will be declared the winner. 

Entry Deadline

Applications must be received by ASTA no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on June 30, 2022.  Incomplete applications, or applications received after the stated deadline, will not receive consideration.  
 

About the Award

The Entrepreneur of the Year Award was established by the Dan and Gloria Bohan Foundation to promote entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial spirit in the travel and hospitality industry through recognition of innovators who have either established their own business or who have been responsible for significant entrepreneurial initiatives within an existing organization. Each year, the Foundation, in conjunction with ASTA, selects one person or organization that best exemplifies this spirit of entrepreneurship to receive the Award and a $10,000 cash prize.