100 Businesses in Tunisia to Receive Support as Part of the Tourism Recovery Programme!
Entrepreneurs across the tourism sector are invited to apply
Tunis, 06 October 2021 – Launched by enpact and the TUI Care Foundation, the Tourism Recovery Programme will empower businesses in Tunisia’s tourism industry to adapt to the pandemic’s challenges, improve their ability to innovate, maintain jobs, and strengthen international collaboration with the European market. Through the programme, participating businesses will have the opportunity to gain access to dedicated mentoring, training, and direct financial support of up to 9,000 Euro 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).
Tunisia is the 4th most visited country in Africa, with 14.9% of the population employed in tourism. In the wake of the pandemic, arrivals have been reduced by 65% in 2020. As a leading travel destination, Tunisia offers a lot of potential to contribute to the recovery and growth of the global tourism industry.
The 6-month Tourism Recovery Programme was initially launched in June 2021 and aims to provide support for innovative travel and tourism micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through dedicated mentoring, financial backing and business development support. Following the successful onboarding of 315 businesses from Egypt, Mexico, South Africa and Kenya in August 2021, the programme is now extending its support to up to 100 businesses in Tunisia, which will be added to the programme in January 2022 for a period of 6 months.
The future of tourism depends on resilient tourism businesses offering sustainable products and services, particularly in 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 and is designed to support tourism businesses on their path of economic recovery. Additionally, the aim is to create a flourishing international network of tourism businesses and expand collaborations between businesses in Tunisia and the German/European market.
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.
To apply for the programme, businesses need to be legally registered, locally owned and independently operated, and to have been revenue-generating prior to the pandemic. Businesses also need to display a technologically, socially or environmentally innovative business model.
Applications are open until the 27th of October for small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Tunisia. Eligible businesses can apply here.
The Empowering Entrepreneurship Initiative was developed by the non-profit organisation enpact e.V. The initiative 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, designed to deliver support to 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. In Tunisia, the Tourism Recovery Programme is implemented in coordination with the Project “Promotion of sustainable tourism”.
