The AIHM Business Plan Competition 2025

Our inaugural business plan competition is a chance for high schoolers to demonstrate their entrepreneurial skills. Pitch an original idea and gain feedback from industry experts. You could win up to THB 40,000, as well as gain something great to add to your college application or resume.    

The competition

Our challenge to you is to identity an opportunity for a new venture in the field of hospitality. It could be a product or service for anything from F&B and events to youth hostels, glamping or even pop-up restaurants.

You will then work as a team to prepare a marketing plan. You will be expected to perform basic market research, analyse feasibility, and develop a business model. Your idea must be completely original, and balance creativity with viability.

You’ll then present your idea in a recorded video – you can be as creative as you want in terms of format. This is to be submitted by 1 March 2025.

Finalists will be selected to present business plan in person to a panel of judges on 29 March 2025, with three teams going on to win prizes of up to THB 40,000.

The challenge is on!

Who  is eligible to enter 

Teams of 3-4 students in their final three years of high school in Thailand

How  to enter

Present your business plan in short video format (4-minute video), including the following:

• An overview of your business concept
• Your value proposition
• The target market
• Key activities and offerings

The video recording should be no more than four minutes. You can use PowerPoint, Prezi, animation, voiceovers, etc. As long as you are persuasive, you can be as creative as you like.

The file should be submitted in MP4 format under 100MB, with an opening slide of the business name, students and school represented, to the AIHM competition landing page by 1 March 2025.

Finalists will be selected and announced on 10 March 2025 on the Facebook page. 

Finalists will be asked to make an extended 20-minute business plan presentation in person to a panel of judges at the Asian Institute of Hospitality Management (AIHM) on 29 March 2025. All team members must participate, and the following points should be covered:

• An overview of your business concept
• Your value proposition
• The target market
• Competitive analysis
• Marketing plan
• Break-even analysis
• Implementation timeline

At the end of the presentation, students should be prepared to answer questions from the panel.

Prizes 

The winning team will receive an AIHM trophy, and all finalists will receive a certificate.

Competition rules

• All team members must be in their last three years of high school.
• All team members must be studying in Thailand and students need to show their student cards to be eligible.
• Video entries over the four-minute time limit will not be considered.
• All entries must be submitted to the AIHM website.
• Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered.
• All work must be original, with proper referencing. Plagiarised ideas will be immediately disqualified.
• Presentations in person will be cut short if they run over 20 minutes.
• The judging committee’s decision is final.
• While the copyright of video presentations remains with students, AIHM claims the right to publish them and use them for promotional purposes.