New startup incubator to foster change in global hospitality

by Ralph Hernandez / October 1, 2021

The hospitality industry is one of the most affected sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic. With borders closed off and flights grounded, the World Travel and Tourism Council estimates $4.7 trillion in losses in the sector in 2020. Establishments across the world shuttered and many employees were laid off. But with the rollout of vaccines in 2021, governments are cautiously reopening borders and ushering the revival of tourism.

KUBE Ventures, a startup incubator founded by a handful of leaders in the global hospitality industry, aims to address some of the challenges by helping startups that dare to shake up the landscape and innovate.

Founded by Michael Levie and David Keen, KUBE Ventures was announced at the recent Arabian and African Hospitality Investment Conference in Dubai. The incubator leverages two entities to empower new ideas: KUBE Circle and KUBE Conscience.

KUBE Circle brings together leaders, veterans and visionaries in the hospitality industry to form a community, a global think tank for knowledge sharing, education and networking. KUBE Conscience, meanwhile, is an appointed board that measures the values and potential of each entity. “While KUBE Circle acts as the rich mind, KUBE Conscience stands as a moral gateway,” the organization explained.

“We want to give back to the hospitality industry. All of our shareholders have united with a crystal-clear purpose. We want to catalyze transformation: be it in technology, operations or human resources”, said Levie. “The moment is now. The post-pandemic era is one of extraordinary opportunity. Our purpose is to realize our industry’s potential and to bring it up to par with the world’s most dynamic industries and organizations,” Keen added.

Tourism in the Philippines

As of early September, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat announced that more than half of Filipino tourism workers have been vaccinated against COVID.

Based on data from the Department of Tourism (DOT), Metro Manila has the highest number of vaccinated tourism employees at 94%. The Davao Region follows with 88% and the Cordillera Administrative Region with 80%.

“Vaccinating our tourism workers is the only way we can continue to sustain the recovery of domestic tourism, especially with the presence of a new virus variant,” said Puyat.

DOT has pivoted towards domestic tourism given the health situation and the steep decline in international arrivals. From January to December 2020, visitor arrivals were down 82% while visitor receipts or spending generated also declined by 83% compared to the same period in 2019. In January to June 2021, international tourist arrivals further declined, down 96% compared to the same period in 2020.

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