Amadeus and UNWTO partner for Kenya’s deprived communities

New partnership allows the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and Amadeus to join and help poor communities in Kenya access tourism industry jobs.

Starting the end of 2017, young underprivileged people in Kenya will be soon included in employment and entrepreneurship pilot programmes in the travel sector, as the Kenyan ministry of tourism has just signed an agreement with Amadeus and UNTWO. The initiative is set to be an example for other markets that need to expand privileges for poor communities.

“Tourism is a key backbone to the region’s economic growth, with a projected growth of 16 per cent by end of 2016. This initiative enables us to empower women and our youth whilst building our local tourism and travel industry,” commented the Kenyan cabinet secretary for tourism, Najib Balala.

For this project, Amadeus will provide specialized trainings for local participants in the programme, while UNWTO will contribute with the extensive expertise of its UN agencies and key industry players.

Taleb Rifai, UNWTO secretary general, added: “Though in most regions women make up the majority of the tourism workforce, they tend to be concentrated in the lowest paid and lowest status jobs and perform a large amount of unpaid work in family tourism businesses. We thus need to work together to ensure women can access better jobs in tourism.”