Austria
- TUI joins forces with the German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit's (GIZ) lab of tomorrow in order to develop strategies for a more skilled workforce for the Egyptian tourism sector.
Between February 5th and 8th specialists from both TUI and GIZ met local players in the TUI Magic Life Resort in Egypt, to pool their resources and develop a sustainable business-driven strategy aimed at creating better opportunities for young people in the ever thriving Egyptian tourism industry.
Vocational education and training is of high priority for the country, since the lack of qualified staff is a crucial obstacle for the development of the Egyptian economy. The tourism industry is one of the major contributors to the Egyptian economy. In 2016, it contributed 7.2% of GDP and 6.6% of total employment, with increasing importance. As a consequence, the sector holds a predominant position as a key driver of economic growth.
TUI, as the world’s leading tourism player, is convinced that with the rightapproach and partners that these challenges can be met to maximise the potential of the Egyptian tourism industry. In a young country where one-half of the population is below the age of 25, tourism can be a catalyst for change provided key players work together, share their knowledge and provide creative business ideas for real and concrete problems.
During a workshop organised in Cairo last year, TUI & GIZ identified three main areas for improvement: low qualification of the labour force, lack of vocational education and training offers and low participation of young women on the labour force.
In some cases this is due to a lack of coordination among key stakeholders. For this reason, this year’s lab of tomorrow brought together representatives from training companies & consultancies, hotel & tourism schools, IT companies, social entrepreneurs, governorates, among others. Together, they will define a common strategy to tackle these development challenges.
Solutions could imply: enhancing the dual education system in Egypt, more practical educational programmes, exchange programmes and targeted trainings, as well as various collaborative strategies between private and public actors.
The lab of tomorrow is an initiative of GIZ inspiring all kinds of companies – from the small IT start-up to global players such as Merck or Siemens – to develop creative ideas to solve specific problems through a cooperative approach. Currently, 30 of these labs are successfully functioning around the world.
