Yes. We do not accept any payments for the Grant Program. It is free to apply and, if selected, you will not receive any bills from Herodotus Digital Advisory for the program. Based on the business goals & resources, there may be some standard associated costs with operating a website or ads, such as website hosting, advertising fees, etc. but those are paid directly to the external platforms. 

Businesses of all types are encouraged to apply. Each application is reviewed internally & considered across several categories such as company size, history, potential impact, location, and resources. 
Important - there is no cost to apply and no obligation. Even if you think your business may not be a fit, you're encouraged to apply.

Operators are encouraged to apply using the link below. All applications are reviewed internally. If your business does not pass our initial review, we will contact you to provide other options for working with Herodotus Advisory Group. There is no obligation. 

Applicants that pass the initial review may be asked to provide additional information and are moved to a rolling wait-list.

We typically have one active grant program recipient at a time, however we may have multiple at peak times. When a spot opens up, the wait-list is reviewed and finalists will be contacted for a 30-min consultation to discuss their business goals & opportunities. 

Awarded recipients will be notified of their selection shortly after these consultations, and the program typically begins within a few weeks.

Each business is different, and therefore the program is bespoke to each recipient. However, we typically follow a template framework of learning the business, auditing the digital properties (website, tools, platforms, seo, etc.), configuring critical platforms, developing strategic roadmap and providing hours of digital remediation (design, development, testing, implementation, etc.).

The goal of the program is understand the business, analyze the current environment, identify opportunism, act on these opportunities, and develop a structure for ongoing success after the program has ended. 

In the application process, we will ask for some basic business information. You will not be asked to share highly detailed financial or operational info in the application. 

If selected, we will require more detailed information about your business such as seasonal trends, historical financial information, acquisition data, and we will require access to your digital platforms. 

Additionally, we will need you to be available for scheduled meetings and therefore technology to participate in digital calls (wifi, computer with zoom). We understand that the travel industry can cause inflexible schedules, so we will work with you to organize meetings around your calendar. You will not be penalized for having a busy schedule!

Lastly, we do ask graduates of the grant program to share their experience so we can publish these stories. 

The travel/tourism industry is one of the most effective tools in building financial prosperity. However, the digital landscape can be challenging and the playing field is often quite unbalanced. Our goal is to provide meaningful support and opportunity to operators around the globe who may not have the financial resources of larger enterprises. 

Transparency is one of our core values, so we believe it's important to share that there are also benefits for our business in offering this program. Through this program, we are able to build a more robust & diverse portfolio of services & clients. Additionally, we are able to highlight the successes of the program graduates in our case studies, which are impactful in pitching our services to businesses and organizations. And lastly, there's always a potential for graduates of this program to become future clients (although this is never a condition of the program, nor do we have any expectations that a participant will become a client).

Above all, we believe this is a mutually-beneficial program and a small way that we can provide real, lasting impact to communities around the world.