Tunis, 12 October 2021

enpact and TUI Care Foundation extend Tourism Recovery Programme: Additional 100 businesses in Tunisia to receive direct support in recovering from the pandemic

  • The Tourism Recovery Programme extends to support entrepreneurial tourism teams in Tunisia, with 100 businesses from Tunisia joining the 315 from Egypt, Mexico, South Africa and Kenya already participating 
  • Focus on small and medium-sized enterprises that have a positive, social or environmental impact and demonstrate innovative business models
  • Tunisian tourism entrepreneurs can apply until 27th October to receive financial support, training and mentoring 

After a successful launch in Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Mexico enpact and TUI Care Foundation are now extending the Tourism Recovery Programme to Tunisia. 100 entrepreneurial teams from Tunisia’s tourism industry will be empowered 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 by tourism experts, training, and 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 German 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 – severely impacting hundreds of thousands of livelihoods in the country. The six-month Tourism Recovery Programme 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 November 2021 for a period of 6 months.

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: https://www.tuicarefoundation.com/en/take-action/tourism-recovery-programme-apply-tunisia

The business management topics covered by the online training component, such as Resilient Leadership, Digital Transformation and Sustainability, aim at giving these groups of entrepreneurs the tools to run a sustainable, flourishing business.

The mentoring component complements this through a more tailored approach, whereby experts from the TUI Group and other companies across the global tourism ecosystem consult the participants on how to optimise their business models.

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.

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.

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.