ASTA Announces Opening for Its Entrepreneur of The Year Award

Key Highlights:

• The Dan and Gloria Bohan Foundation are the sponsors of The Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The award was first launched in 2015.
• Travel advisors, agency owners, suppliers, technology start-ups, and others in the travel and hospitality industry are eligible for the entries.
• ASTA staff and membership will evaluate the nominee on the bases of eight specific benchmark criteria. These will cover various aspects of the successful candidate’s innovative approach to the future of the business. These include sustainability, evolution, experiential travel, proven impact, curation, marketing, growth, and technology.

Due to the pandemic, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) didn’t announce its Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Last week, it announced the opening of the entries for its Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Travel advisors, agency owners, suppliers, technology start-ups, and others in the travel and hospitality industry are eligible for the entries. The award winner will be given $10,000. Also, three lucky finalists will participate in a live, onstage competition for the cash prize at this year’s ASTA Global.

The award will be held in San Francisco, from August 24, 26, 2022. There will be three minutes allocated for each finalist to pitch their presentation. They will present in front of over 1,000 travel professionals who will cast their votes to decide the winner. The Dan and Gloria Bohan Foundation are the sponsors of The Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The award was first launched in 2015 and aims to promote a spirit of entrepreneurship within the industry by honoring innovators working in the travel and hospitality sector—those who have either started their own businesses or have pioneered significant initiatives within existing organizations.

Steps in the selection of 2022’s ASTA Award winner:

• Entrants will need to submit their application form by June 30 at 5:00 p.m. EST. Following that, five semi-finalists will be selected through an internal review, based on specific evaluation criteria.
• On July 27, the five semi-finalists will participate in a Facebook Live event, after which viewers will be called upon to select the top three.
• Finally, on August 26, at the ASTA Global Convention, the top three finalists will compete live on stage in front of an audience of travel professionals, who will then vote for the winner.

American Society of Travel Advisors staff and membership will evaluate the nominee on the bases of eight specific benchmark criteria. These will cover various aspects of the successful candidate’s innovative approach to the future of the business. These include sustainability, evolution, experiential travel, proven impact, curation, marketing, growth, and technology.

Here are the must-have things that individuals or organizations should submit for entry:

• A completed online application form, detailing the nominee’s name and/or company name and contact information.
• A narrative statement, 500 words of less, describing the nominee’s contribution to entrepreneurship in the travel and hospitality industry, and illustrating how it fulfills the above-described benchmarks.
• A video (five minutes or less in length), which describes and/or demonstrates the innovative product or service being submitted for consideration, and explains its value as measured against the benchmarks. The video must be uploaded to a file-sharing site, such as YouTube, Vimeo or Drop Box, and only the link needs to be submitted.
• 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.

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 in San Francisco, California, August 24-26, 2022 (session date and time TBD).