UNWTO has designated 2020 as the year of Tourism and Rural Development. This year is an opportunity to promote the potential of tourism to create new jobs and opportunities. One of the renewed focuses on the benefits of tourism for rural communities is new technologies and the digital transformation of economies.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a serious challenge for the tourism sector, shutting down the global travel industry. It is clear that smart recovery and transformation is more necessary than ever before.
Harnessing innovation and digitalization, embracing local values and creating jobs are key step to recovering the tourism industry, which will particularly benefit youth, women and vulnerable groups.
The Digital Caucasus project, which is being implemented by CENN via a grant awarded by USAID’s E&E Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, Economic Development, Governance and Enterprise Growth project, addresses many priority areas from the roadmap set to transform the tourism sector for a better future.
The ultimate goal of the Digital Caucasus project is to ensure the economic growth of the Caucasus tourism sector by catalysing its digital transformation as well as building strong regional partnerships and new alliances between SMEs in the region. To this end, the project promotes the online presence of the Caucasus region by creating a Caucasus Tourist Destination Portal. The project supports up to 250 SMEs from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan involved in the sustainable tourism value chain to improve their business operations and increase their sales. With its activities, the Digital Caucasus project will advance innovation and the digitalization of the regional tourism ecosystem as well as foster sustainability and green growth of the sector in order to support responsible sustainable tourism.
