A travel startup from Vietnam recently received US$7,000 from a Southeast Asian fund for their innovation in providing travelers with tourism information on-demand.
According to Tuoi Tre, Chameleon City aims to provide its users with access to experts in all aspects of travel and lifestyle on a user-friendly chat-based platform. Their team includes expats, university students, lawyers and even sexual health and wellness specialists to give users a full picture of what Vietnam has to offer, not just surface-level experiences.
Peter Petracca, the founder of Chameleon City, told Word Vietnam, “A big problem we noticed was that the whole review industry was broken. Trip Advisor will give you the top 10 of someone who’s been in the city for a week, and people will perpetually go back to those top ten places, while missing the real gems the city has to offer.”
Mekong Innovative Startup Tourism (MIST), a regional financial initiative, announced the four 2017 grant recipients earlier this week. GoP, a Burmese travel tech startup, took home the US$10,000 first price. The runners-up were Chameleon City, Cambodia’s CamboTicket and TAEC’s Artisan Origins from Laos.
“MIST began in December 2016 as a joint venture between the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, the Government of Australia and the Asian Development Bank-supported Mekong Business Initiative,” reports Tuoi Tre.
[Photo via Tuoi Tre]
