2 million euro tourism training project for developing countries

Benin traditional houses

UNWTO and SNV partner to advance tourism training for the informal sector in developing countries

“Capacity building and knowledge transfer” say UNWTO “are at the center of competitive destinations and sustainable development efforts.”

A new project, High Impact Tourism Training (HITT), implemented by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation with support from UNWTO, will provide training to 8.000 tourism workers and entrepreneurs from the informal sector in seven developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.  
The EU-funded project project, with funds of € 2 million (US$ 2.9 million) from the European Union, will provide vocational tourism training in Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal and Vietnam – countries where tourism is increasingly a leading source of employment and economic growth.

Workers and entrepreneurs will receive practical tourism training in major working areas to further their technical and management skills and increase their income possibilities, as well as their resilience to potential crisis situations.

Participants will also benefit from links established through the project with the mainstream tourism sector, which will open opportunities for entrepreneurs and workers.    

Each of the seven pilot countries is home to one or more of UNWTO’s Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) and/or Technical Cooperation projects which aim at reducing poverty among the local community through sustainable forms of tourism. Local communities involved in these projects will directly benefit from HITT, which will be implemented through a multi-stakeholders alliance involving national and local governments, syndicates, technical and vocational education and training providers, and private sector.

HITT will be largely directed towards the most vulnerable groups of society, such as rural communities, youth and women, among which unemployment is particularly high and where tourism is a key employment opportunity.

Relevant links:
The HITT Initiative: http://www.hitt-initiative.org
UNWTO Technical Cooperation and Services: http://cooperation.unwto.org/
Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty: http://www.unwto.org/step/index.php
SNV – Netherlands Development Organisation : http://www.snvworld.org
European Commission External Cooperation Programme http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.html

Valere Tjolle
Valere is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite 2011 Special Offers HERE