A good idea can open up new opportunities, but creating meaningful change requires more than the idea itself. It must be connected with the right resources, market conditions, policies, and partners. This is also a common challenge for many startups seeking to move their solutions from the testing stage into real-world business applications.
Across hospitality and tourism, innovation is emerging in many areas, from operational technology and guest experience to workforce management and sustainability. Yet businesses do not simply need more new solutions. What matters is creating an environment where ideas can be tested, refined, and scaled effectively.
At HORECFEX VIETNAM 2026, Mandy Nguyen – Chief Operating Officer at Startup Vietnam Foundation – will bring insights from her experience in developing innovation programs and managing cross-sector partnerships.
In her current role, she leads a number of key initiatives designed to address economic challenges at both national and local levels. Her human-centered approach ensures that these programs focus not only on ideas, but also on the capabilities of leaders, communities, and the people directly responsible for implementing change.
One of Mandy’s key strengths is her ability to connect stakeholders with different objectives and ways of working. Through public-private partnership programs, she helps create the conditions needed for entrepreneurial talent to access opportunities, strengthen capabilities, and apply their solutions to real market challenges.
For the hospitality community, this perspective is particularly relevant as many businesses want to innovate but are still uncertain about where to begin, which partners to work with, or how to validate an initiative before scaling it.
Mandy Nguyen’s session is not only for startups. Hotel managers, tourism businesses, investors, and technology providers can also gain valuable insights into how to build effective partnerships, nurture new ideas, and turn innovation into a long-term capability for growth.
Because the future of the industry will not be shaped by new technologies alone. It will also depend on the ability to connect the right people, the right resources, and the right opportunities so that valuable solutions can move from ideas into real-world impact.