TEF Seeks 25 Innovators for Tourism Innovation Incubator

The Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) is seeking 25 Jamaican innovators to participate in the second Tourism Innovation Incubator.

The initiative is designed to identify and develop groundbreaking ideas that can significantly enhance Jamaica’s tourism industry, both locally and globally.

Interested persons have until Monday, May 6 at 11:59 p.m. to submit their applications via the TEF’s website at www.tef.gov.jm/incubator.

Executive Director, TEF, Dr. Carey Wallace, told JIS News that the goal is to transform innovative ideas into commercial realities.

“So, pretty much, we are trying to create a couple billionaires out of Jamaicans, creating the next new product, the next new Airbnb or Uber, whatever the opportunity we have here in Jamaica, which is a leading industry on the global scale,” he said.

Dr. Wallace pointed out that applications will be filtered and once the persons are selected for the programme, the TEF team will go through a “lean canvas process” to check if the idea already exist and if there is value in it, among other things.

“We check to make sure you have the intellectual property protection. We do a digital prototype…we do the business plan so that you end up from an idea to a commercially viable product that we provide an opportunity for you to pitch to investors,” Dr. Wallace explained.

He informed that there is no age limit to participate in the programme, however, persons should have a commitment to the idea they want to see succeed.

“It takes two hands to clap. We will provide resources to take you through the rigours of moving it from an idea to a commercially viable product or service, but it’s going to rely on your commitment. You will have to attend some classes, go through some workshops, actually do homework [and] do work on the idea,” Dr. Wallace said.

The Tourism Innovation Incubator offers various benefits, including networking opportunities, access to resources, and potential grant funding from partners like the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ).

Last year, two persons benefited from DBJ Ignite Funding.

The TEF operates under the Ministry of Tourism.

Its role is to lead tourism innovation in the areas of transformational infrastructural and sustainable projects, human capital development and tourism linkages through the applied utilisation of research data.