22 August 2011: The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has announced a project to provide training on tourism management skills to 8,000 sustainable tourism workers in seven countries in Africa and Asia. The project will be implemented by the SNV Netherlands Development Organization, with funding from the EU.

According to the UNWTO, the training aims to equip trainees with improved technical and management skills, increase income potential and enhance resilience. High Impact Tourism Training training will be provided in Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal and Vietnam, countries in which tourism is increasingly becoming a key source of jobs and economic growth. Each of the pilot countries also is home to one or more of UNWTO’s Sustainable Tourism–Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) activities, or technical cooperation projects aiming to reduce poverty through sustainable forms of tourism.

UNWTO says the training is largely directed towards the most vulnerable groups, such as rural communities, youth and women, who face high levels of unemployment. [UN Press Release] [UNWTO Press Release]