After a series of training sessions with 135 students comprising 27 teams and 12 finalists, one victorious team has earned the daunting task of representing the University of San Carlos in Thai Nguyen City, Thai Nguyen, Vietnam, for the ECOViP Student Competition Bootcamp.

The ECOViP Student Competition is composed of brilliant and creative student minds from diverse fields—Tourism, Natural Sciences, and ICT — to develop real-world, innovative ecotourism projects that tackle sustainability challenges in their communities. Ayesha Balt (B.S. Bio. 1), Jeziel Mae Faelden (B.S. T.M. 3), Simone Marie Golez (B.S. T.M. 3), Michael Rey Angelo Mabutas (B.S. T.M. 3), and Sean Philippe Pilapil (B.S. I.T. 1), collectively known as Team Lakbay (see photo above), were declared as champions, for their innovative entrepreneurial project, “Ohhh-Lango – Paglayag sa Islang Olango.”

The winning team produced a sustainable eco-tourism project that transforms Olango Island into an interactive adventure. Tourists become the main characters in a living storybook as they explore nature-rich and culturally significant locations on the island. Through a mobile app and a story guidebook, visitors learn about the environment, wildlife, and local communities in an engaging and immersive way. The project blends storytelling, real-world interaction, and technology like photo recognition to enhance learning and discovery.

This year’s USC-ECOViP Student Competition is a localized competition in USC under the project ECOViP, “Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Ecotourism to support sustainable development in Vietnam and the Philippines,” co-funded by Erasmus+ program that aims to develop entrepreneurial and innovation capacities for sustainable development in tourism in Vietnam and the Philippines.

Over four dynamic months, students have gone through lecture sessions, training, mentorship, and project presentation phases that took place in the university’s Ecotourism Hub, culminated in the presentation of digital business proposals. The winning team will earn a spot at the International ECOViP Boot Camp, where they’ll receive expert guidance, connect with peers from across the globe, and gain hands-on experience in the ecotourism field.

by Demetrio Anticuado, Department of Hospitality and Tourism