Deadline: 31-Oct-2025
The Department of Tourism (DOT), in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education(CHED), empower third-year to fourth-year college students by providing them with a platform to collaborate and create innovative ideas that will contribute to the advancement of the tourism sector.
Proposals must be in line with the objectives and strategies of the National Tourism Development Plan and must include at least one of the six pillars of the grant priority areas: Facilities and Demo Labs in pre-existing facilities of the school/university, Immersion and Career Development, Technology Innovation and Digitalization, Start-Up and Incubation Centers, Research and Development, Tourism Education and Education Tourism.
Three national winners, one each from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, will be awarded five million pesos each to implement their projects. Before reaching the national level, proposals will go through a series of screenings, beginning with provincial vetting, followed by regional judging, and culminating in the national competition. Each regional finalist will also receive a grant prize of two hundred fifty thousand pesos.
The competition is open to HEIs that can form a group of six third-year to fourth-year students, together with one adviser. While it primarily targets tourism and hospitality management students, participants from other degree programs may also join, provided their proposals align with the competition’s objectives.
To qualify, HEIs must submit one proposal that highlights transformative ideas of Filipino youth in advancing tourism. The proposal must include a project proposal, timeline Gantt chart, beneficiary matrix, work and financial plan, and other necessary requirements. The final project cost should be five million pesos.
The judging process will evaluate proposals based on relevance to theme and objectives, innovation and creativity, impact potential, feasibility and viability, and quality of proposal with responsiveness to local context. Projects are expected to demonstrate measurable benefits for communities and the tourism sector, ensuring alignment with local needs and resources.
Key dates include the deadline for submission of proposals on October 31, 2025, provincial vetting on November 19 to 21, 2025, regional vetting on January 14 to 16, 2026, national judging on February 11 to 13, 2026, and the awarding ceremony on March 18, 2026.
For more information, visit DOT.
