Accor S.A. is a multinational hospitality company based in France that hosts the Accor Take Off! Challenge – an annual competition to nurture CSR ideas from young minds across the world.
In the 10th edition of the Accor Take Off! Challenge, 2 teams from WGSHA, Manipal (Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration) made it to the finals. Team Conquistadors emerged champions bagging first place and Team Flower Power secured the second position respectively. The finale was webcast across the world and graced by Mr. Sebastien Bazin, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Accor Hotels. It is for the first time, a team from India has secured the top spot in this competition. 500 participants from across 86 Schools in 25 Countries formed 165 teams for the first round.
The preparation for this contest began in April where participants had to make a photomontage representing their project with a brief description. The ideas were put up on the public forum for voting and 50 teams were shortlisted based on public votes. A jury of 17-panel members further shortlisted 16 teams of the 50, who got a chance to pitch their ideas in the second round of the competition.
Team Conquistadors comprising of Mangaloreans Nathan Alston Dsouza (son of Mr. Norbert and Mrs. Agnes Dsouza) and Subhash Praveen Ullal (son of Mr. Praveen Kumar and Dr. Rekhalatha) and a teammate Sadhika Venkatesh (daughter of Mr. Venkatesh V and Mrs. Vijaya) presented their idea of “Linen for Women”, which aims to combat one of the largest sources of hotel waste – Laundry Linen. Biodegradable cloth pads will be made from this waste and given to women who don’t have proper access to Menstrual Hygiene facilities. It is a nation-building activity that empowers women by providing employment and at the same time adding brand value to Accor.
The idea was well received by the jury members and shortlisted for the finale along with teams from Indonesia, Cambodia, and France. The virtual finale was hosted on September 06th, 2021. It was an intense session, where teams had to dwell upon aspects of Marketing, Financials, Project Feasibility, etc.
The CEO of the Accor Group committed to discuss the winning project and also implement the idea with the team who have been invited to the Accor Headquarters in Paris.
Teams are grateful to their family, faculty, friends and their alma mater WGSHA for continued support and guidance throughout the competition.
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