enpact and TUI Care Foundation launch Tourism Recovery Programme supporting 315 tourism businesses across four countries
- 315 tourism businesses in Egypt, Mexico, South Africa and Kenya will receive six months’ professional training, business mentoring and financial support
- Programme targeted at organisations with clear and innovative social, technological or environmental business models and with the objective of strengthening collaboration between the tourism sector in destinations and the German and European markets
- The programme is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
enpact and the TUI Care Foundation today announced the start of a joint Tourism Recovery Programme which will support young founders in the travel and tourism industry. Applications are open until 20th June for micro, small, and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Egypt, Mexico, South Africa and Kenya.
The Tourism Recovery Programme is designed to support innovative tourism businesses on their path of economic recovery. The future of tourism depends on resilient tourism businesses offering sustainable products and services, particularly in developing and emerging economies. With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at its core, the Tourism Recovery Programme builds capacity around leadership, resilience, sustainability, innovation, and digital transformation. Additionally, the aim is to create a flourishing international network of tourism businesses.
Under the six-month programme, participating businesses will have the opportunity to gain access to dedicated mentoring, business development training and financial support.
The mentoring programme provides tailored guidance through individual sessions with TUI experts and other global tourism professionals. Alongside this, the technical assistance component includes a virtual learning programme, peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, networking opportunities and support for participants in developing an internationalisation plan. The support package draws on the experience of the earlier COVID-19 Relief Programme for Tourism, where 352 participants from 150 tourism businesses from Mexico, Kenya, Indonesia and Jordan benefited from the same opportunity.
The Tourism Recovery Programme aims to empower travel and tourism businesses in the four target countries that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and which demonstrate a technologically, socially or environmentally innovative business model. Companies with existing ties to the German and European tourism sector or a commitment to expand are particularly relevant for the support provided by this programme.
The programme is part of the Empowering Entrepreneurship Initiative by enpact which was created to provide direct support for entrepreneurs in emerging markets. In 2020, the initiative launched with two programmes that provided support to 330 businesses in Egypt, Jordan, Ghana, Kenya, Indonesia and Mexico in overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nasser Abu Saad, Founder of The Cabin Hostel, who participated in the programme in Jordan said: “Through online classes and learning new leadership techniques, we were able to overcome the challenges of this difficult time. The financial and technical support allowed us to continue offering our services.”
Eligible candidates can access the application procedure for the Tourism Recovery Programme on the TUI Care Foundation or enpact homepages:
About TUI Care Foundation
Building on the potential of tourism as a force for good, the TUI Care Foundation supports and initiates projects which create new opportunities and contribute to thriving communities in tourism destinations all over the world. Connecting holidaymakers to good causes, it supports education and training opportunities for young people; drives the protection of natural habitats and the marine environment; and helps local communities to thrive sustainably and benefit from tourism. The TUI Care Foundation builds on strong partnerships with local and international organisations to create meaningful and long-lasting impact. The independent charitable organisation was founded by TUI, one of the world's leading tourism businesses, and is based in the Netherlands.
About enpact e.V.
enpact is a Berlin-headquartered non-profit organisation empowering entrepreneurship, ecosystems and international cooperation. The organisation was founded in 2013 with the goal of promoting entrepreneurship in emerging and developing countries. enpact supports young entrepreneurs and ecosystem actors from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America through a variety of products clustered in three business areas: entrepreneurial support, organisational support and data & research. Among its flagship products are mentoring programmes, capacity building programmes, coworking spaces, delegations, data-based consulting, as well as analysing and evaluating the founder-friendliness of cities. At present, enpact’s network consists of 2500+ startups, 600+ mentors and experts and 150+ support organisations in 30+ countries. 10000+ jobs have been created as a direct result of enpact’s work with startups.
The Empowering Entrepreneurship Initiative was developed by the non-profit organisation enpact e.V. and was launched in 2020 with two programmes designed to deliver economic relief from the COVID-19 crisis. The Tourism Recovery Programme is the third standalone programme of the initiative, aimed to support the resilience and recovery of businesses in the tourism sector. The COVID-19 Relief Programme is supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is implemented together with enpact and TUI Care Foundation.
