Source: http://tourism-insider.com/
Through the European Commission (EC) funded programme, Developing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Methodologies and Services for the Informal Economy, SNV is implementing the High Impact Tourism Training for Jobs & Income (HITT). The HITT Programme is implemented with the support of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC).
The HITT programme, counts with 2 million Euros from the European Union, aims to contribute to sustainable and pro-poor economic growth in 4 Sub-Saharan countries (Benin, Mali, Ghana and Mozambique) and 3 countries in Asia (Cambodia, Nepal and Vietnam) through the development and implementation of a market-driven tourism TVET system targeting the informal tourism sector.
Through this initiative, government and private vocational training institutions will work hand in hand to strengthen their capacity so as to address the informal sector demand for training. Workers and entrepreneurs will be provided with 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.
Tourism is one of the world’s largest job creators and currently accounts for one in every twelve jobs globally. 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.
