The competition aroused considerable interest in the educational space. In the first round, which ended on March 8, 2024, 79 startup projects from 20 higher education institutions were sent to SUTE for participation in the finals in the following areas:

• "Start-up. Tour";
• "Start-up. Hospitality";
• "Start-up. Restaurant".

The Dean of the Faculty of Restaurant, Hotel and Tourism Business Vedmid N., the Head of the Department of Tourism and Recreation Tkachenko T., the Head of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business Boyko M., the Head of the Department of Technology and Organization of the Restaurant Business Fedorova D.V. and leading scientists of SUTE gave a welcome speech to the participants.

Also, the competition commissions of the event included practical experts who reviewed and evaluated the business startups submitted to the competition in the following areas: Boyko O., Deputy General Director of Travel Professional Group LLC; Kondratenko T., Director of AR-TI-PI LLC of the Tourist Operator "Vitiana"; Dvorska I., General Director of TRAVEL HUB LLC; Chernega O., Curator of the Digitalization Project in the Areas of Tourism, Culture and Sports in the City of Kyiv; Golynskyi T., Director of the Tourist Operator "Ethnotour" LLC; Opanashchuk Yu., PhD in Economics, Associate Professor, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Hotel Associations and Hotels of Cities of Ukraine, Honored Worker of the Service Sector of Ukraine; Mozgova Yu., Personnel Development Manager of Ramada Encore Kyiv; Mishchenko O., Head of the Hotel Matrix International Project; Kholodova S., Deputy Head of the Reception and Accommodation Service of "UKRHOTELINVEST COMPANY" LLC, "Ibis Kyiv City Center" Hotel; Chunytska L., Honored Employee of the Service Sector, Accredited Judge of the "World Association of Chefs Societies"; Lanska V., Brand-Chef-Baker of the Company "Profitex Ukraine"; Sabirov O., Chief Technologist of "Mamamia" LLC; Volkov O., President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Gastronomic Tourism.

The topics of the startups selected for the final covered a wide range of current issues of the hospitality industry: the use of modern information technologies, the realization of the potential for the development of specialized types of tourism and the justification of innovative programs of tourist services, the development of marketing strategies for the development of hotel enterprises, the implementation of important social projects in the field of hotel, restaurant and tourism business - creation of a barrier-free environment for people with special needs, creation of virtual and quest tours, business concepts for online search for travel managers, etc. The participants of the competition did not ignore the problems of the impact of the consequences of the war on the territory of Ukraine on the hospitality industry.

During the presentation of startups, students demonstrated a high level of theoretical and practical training, the ability to think critically and creatively, and the ability to defend their own business ideas with arguments.

According to the results of public protection of business startups, the following were noted:

First degree diploma:

• Victoria Kovalchuk (National University of Food Technologies), project name "Support"
• Nataliya Levchenko (Kharkiv National University named after Semyon Kuznets), the name of the project is "Rescue. Emergency inflatable ladder"
• Elizaveta Niverchuk (State University of Trade and Economics), project name "SHATSI"
• Yulia  Petrivska (State University of Trade and Economics), name of the project "Development of a virtual travel brand"
• Yan Proyaev (Kremenchuk National University named after Mykhailo Ostrogradskyi), name of the project "Barrier-Free City"
• Victoria Shchegel (State University of Trade and Economics), name of the project "Niamka"

II degree diploma:

• Victoria Zahorodniuk (Ivan Franko National University of Lviv), project name "Nation of the Unbreakable"
• Victoria Shuta (Vinnytsia National Agrarian University), project name "Development of the HR brand of hotel and restaurant establishments"
• Liya Goncharova (Separate structural division "Kyiv Trade and Economics College of the State Trade and Economics University"), the name of the project is "TripsTips"
• Valery Kovalenko, Tatyana Chorna (State University of Trade and Economics), the name of the project is "HubStay"
• Anna Klymenko, Yaroslav Ageev (Kyiv National University of Technology and Design), name of the project "Castle-hotel"
• Andriy Yakovenko, Yaroslav Ivantsev (National University of Bioresources and Nature Management of Ukraine), the name of the project is "Try&Trip VR"
• Lyudmyla Hryhorovych (Chernivtsi Institute of Trade and Economics, DTEU), the name of the project is "GLUTEN-FREE CAFÉ 3D-DESSERT"

III degree diploma:

• Vladyslava Miler (Interregional Academy of Personnel Management), the name of the project is "Virtualfuture"
• Maria Shepeta (National University of Transport), the name of the project is "Recover & Rejoice"
• Karina Teplyuk, Anastasia Melnyk (National University of Bioresources and Nature Management of Ukraine), name of the project "Hotel Zoosel"
• Oleg Mykhailiuk (Kyiv Vocational College of Tourism and Hospitality), the name of the project is "Zaraz, virtual tourism"
• Viktoriya Gubriy (Vinnytsia Institute of Trade and Economics of the State University of Trade and Economics), name of the project "Appendix Provider"
• Daria Atomanyuk (Separate structural unit "Kyiv Trade and Economics College of the State Trade and Economics University"), name of the project "Hotel Schedu"
• Kateryna Burchak (National University of Bioresources and Nature Management of Ukraine), name of the project "Apart-hotel"
• Svitlana Chugai (State University of Trade and Economics), the name of the project is "Boomtickers"
• Olga Opatska (Prykarpattia National University named after Vasyl Stefanyk), name of the project "Quest City"
• Mariya Tereshchenko (VSP "Kyiv Trade and Economics College of the State Trade and Economics University"), name of the project
• Mariya Samilenko (National University of Food Technologies), name of the project "HEALTHY NUTRITION"
• Oksana Zakora (Poltava State Agrarian University), the name of the project is "ESPRESSO ELEGANCE"

The rest of the participants of the event were awarded with certificates.

Congratulations to the winners, we wish you success in the implementation of business startups! We express our sincere gratitude to the scientific supervisors for their selfless work!

Tetiana TKACHUK
Deputy Dean for Scientific and Methodical Work
and International Relations of the Restaurant, Hotel and Tourism Business Faculty