With Nevada's tourism sector in free fall this past spring, the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Ted and Doris Lee Family Foundation looked to accelerate recovery with the May launch of the Lee School Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

One-time-use, recyclable bed sheets; a durable cleaning robot; and a virus-capturing HVAC system were among the winners of the competition spearheaded by the Troesh Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Five teams of entrepreneurs have been awarded $900,000 combined to help the hospitality, entertainment and travel industries recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Financial adviser Ana Raviña used to travel overseas almost every week of the year, hopping from one hotel to the next. As part of her job in international development, she regularly flew to Latin America and Africa. She also traveled widely around Europe to meet with donors, investors and clients.

Great Lakes cruise lines, much like their international industry peers, are feeling the challenges of operating in a pandemic but have high hopes that their ships can be back in the water for 2021 and bringing new cruising options for eager travelers.

Executive Director at the Troesch Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UNLV Leith Martin explains that the University is set to hold its competition for the Lee School Prize for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which hopes to speed up development of innovations necessary to address problems the Hospitality, Entertainment, and Travel industries are facing during this pandemic.

More than 250 entrepreneurs and inventors are competing to create a solution that can help the hospitality, entertainment and travel industries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the potential of seeing their idea brought to market.

The hospitality and tourism industries have clearly been hit hard by the Coronavirus crisis. There are questions about how hotels, restaurants, sports and entertainment venues and airlines will come back from the pandemic. The Lee Business School at UNLV wants to know what you think will be the new normal. The school is even offering a big prize for your help. A member of the business school joined us this morning to talk about the competition.