TOURISM practitioners in the East Africa can now enhance their skills and expertise through a comprehensive suite of professional courses following the launch of EAC Online Tourism Capacity Development Programme.

The courses, developed in collaboration with the European Union and the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ) aim to elevate professional standards and skill sets across the region's tourism industry.

The programme was officially launched at the weekend during a virtual session led by Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, EAC Deputy Secretary General for Infrastructure, Productive, Social and Political Sectors. 

Malueth reaffirmed EAC’s commitment to upscale skills across tourism sector in the region, targeting MSMEs, youth, women and local communities.

He said that EAC Online Tourism Capacity Development Programme is part of the LIFTED programme, co-funded by the European Union and Germany Cooperation and implemented jointly by GIZ and the EAC Secretariat.

“This initiative builds on our efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the resumption of tourism services. Together, we can redefine tourism for the benefit of all EAC citizens and future generations,” he said.

He hailed participation of tourism stakeholders in the session and encouraged them to enrol and share this opportunity in their networks.

Representing the EU delegation to Tanzania, Martino Vinci, congratulated the Malueth for championing this initiative and reaffirmed Team Europe's commitment to further supporting the community’s efforts to regional tourism market through the ‘Leveraging Integration Frameworks for Trade in Services and CSOs (LIFTED)’ programme which seeks to increase service liberalisation and exports to the regional and continental levels as well as promoting bilateral trade with the EU.

 Marius Weist, GIZ Tourism Component Lead, reflected on Germany’s long-time partnership and collaboration with EAC in tourism sector, including the recent development and launch of Visit East Africa – Feel the Vibe Brand.

“Now, under this brand, we are excited to support EAC in a state-of-the-art e-learning initiative to foster capacity development in the tourism sector. Thus, it just fits in perfectly that the first topic that this programme covers focuses on tourism marketing,” he said.

Weist thanked EAC Secretariat for leading this process and ensuring development of the programme was a success. He also thanked the European Union and the German government for their trust in GIZ to deliver results in this critical sector.

The event was attended by various tourism stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, including tourism boards, tour operators, tour guides, SMEs and the East African Tourism Platform among other tourism stakeholders across the region.