Maksim Godovykh was selected as a winner of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Global Hospitality Challenge, an international initiative aimed at accelerating the recovery of global tourism while promoting inclusivity and sustainability. The challenge attracted hundreds of innovative projects from around the world, which were evaluated based on criteria such as disruptiveness, project maturity, implementation potential, scalability, digitalization, sustainability, and investment attractiveness.
Dr. Godovykh’s project, the “Virtual Hospitality Research Platform,” was recognized for its innovative technological approach and strong practical relevance for the tourism and hospitality industry. The platform enables industry practitioners to pretest new interventions, programs, marketing campaigns, and policy solutions in virtual environments before implementing them in real-world settings, reducing risk and increasing effectiveness.
As a result of winning the UNWTO Hospitality Challenge, Dr. Godovykh was invited to collaborate with international researchers, tourism providers, and decision-makers on further development of the platform. Through this collaboration, more than a dozen virtual hospitality scenarios were created for hotels, tourist destinations, events, online travel agencies, and sharing-economy providers, reinforcing the project’s global impact and contribution to innovation in sustainable tourism.