The German non-profit organization enpact and the TUI Care Foundation have launched the Tourism Recovery Programme in Egypt, which aims to empower businesses in the tourism industry to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic’s challenges.
The program will work with businesses to improve innovation, job retention, and international collaboration, enpact stated in a press release.
Egypt’s tourism sector lost upwards of US$7.7 billion due to the pandemic in 2020. Being a pillar of Egypt’s economy, the industry provides a large percentage of the country’s GDP and employs over three million Egyptians.
Within the 6-month Tourism Recovery Programme, participating businesses will have the opportunity to gain access to dedicated mentoring, training, and direct financial support of up to €9,000 per business.
The programme is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
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 initiative hopes to create a strong international network of tourism businesses and expand collaborations between businesses in Egypt and the German/European market.
“The blend of mentoring, business training and access to a global support network allows founders to build resilient businesses capable of recovering and growing in a more sustainable fashion. The financial support ensures that business owners can keep up their operations and the employment of their teams while putting all their focus on moving forward,” says Rawan Bassam, Managing Director, enpact Egypt.
The program is part of enpact’s Empowering Entrepreneurship Initiative, which was created to provide direct support for entrepreneurs in emerging markets. In 2020, the initiative launched with two programs that provided support to 330 businesses in Egypt, Jordan, Ghana, Kenya, Indonesia and Mexico.
The Tourism Recovery Programme empowers travel and tourism businesses based in Egypt that display a technologically, socially or environmentally innovative business model. Companies with existing ties to the German and European tourism sector or a commitment to expand will be strongly considered.
Applications are open until the 20th of June for small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Egypt.
