Timakova Rosa Temeryanovna Scientific director of the competition, professor of the Department of Tourism Business and Hospitality, professor of the Department of Food Engineering, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor

The international youth startup competition in the tourism and hospitality industry “ProHospitality2024” (hereinafter referred to as the Competition) is established and conducted by the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Ural State University of Economics” (Ural State University of Economics).

The competition is held with the aim of activating the professional research activities of students, undergraduates and graduate students of higher educational institutions and college students, gaining practical experience and skills in developing START-UP projects in the service industry of hospitality, food and tourism in a service-oriented competitive market, as well as identifying and support for talented youth, assistance in the formation and promotion of youth tourism business projects, business projects in the hotel and restaurant industry and service business projects through interaction with industry professionals.

Problems that the competition solves:

• identification of talented youth in the field of designing hospitality and catering enterprises, service and tourism industry;
• assistance in the formation and promotion of youth business projects through interaction with professional communities in the field of tourism, hospitality, food industry and service technologies;
• increasing interest and involvement of young people (including students) in entrepreneurial activity, development and implementation of modern and innovative projects in the field of development of domestic and inbound tourism, the hospitality and food industry and service activities of the Russian Federation;
• popularization of tourist and recreational opportunities of the Russian Federation;
• support for the scientific and practical development of talented youth in the service-oriented sphere of tourism, hospitality and food.

Participants in the Competition are students, undergraduates and graduate students of universities, research institutes, college students, as well as other interested organizations without an academic degree under the age of 35.

Participants in the Competition can be either individual participants or groups of developers of up to 3 people.

The competition is held in the form of a presentation for examination and evaluation by leading practitioners, managers of enterprises in the hospitality industry, tourism and service companies, government bodies, initiative projects developed by the competition participants for the implementation of business ideas, concepts for the creation and development of customer-oriented organizations in the HoReCa industry, tourism and service activities.

START-UP projects are initiated and developed by participants on the basis of preliminary research and scientific understanding of existing real problems in the development of the services market in the tourism, hospitality and food industries, service activities, as well as the creative application of knowledge and skills in the areas of professional service topics of the Competition.

Competitive projects are submitted to the Competition in the following thematic areas:

1. tourism;
2. hospitality and food industry;
3. service.

Applications for participation in the Competition and competitive works in the form of a START-UP project and abstracts of work are submitted until March 20, 2024 through the registration system of the site:

• an individual participant submits an application through the site’s registration system, selecting the “individual participation” category
• group participation. Each group member submits an application for participation through the site’s registration system, selecting the “team captain” or “team member” category. In the “Topic of work” field, everyone indicates the name of their project. The team captain attaches a file with the project to the registration form, where all the authors of the project are indicated, and a file with the abstract of the work. A “team member” can attach empty files to complete registration.

Lists of competition finalists invited to present their works in person and to participate in the final events of the Forum will be published on the competition page from April 1 to April 10, 2024.

The in-person defense will take place on April 24, 2024 from 10:30 to 15:00, awarding on April 25, 2024.

The final will be held in person; in some cases, by decision of the competition organizing committee, remote participation is possible.

Registered participants and experts gain access to USUE cloud resources based on the MS Office 365 platform and connect to interactive sessions during events through teams created in MicrosoftTeams.

The winners of each thematic area of the Competition are awarded diplomas, orders and cash prizes in the amount of 10,000 rubles.

The winners of thematic areas of the Competition are awarded diplomas and orders.

The winners of the Competition, awarded a 1st degree Diploma, are awarded points for individual achievements when admitted to study at USUE in master's programs (2 points).

Based on the results of the final events, it is planned to release a collection of materials from the XIV EEYF, where the abstracts of the Competition finalists will be posted. The collection will be posted in the RSCI and on the website of the Ural State University of Economics.