Tourism Ethiopia has launched its collaborative program with Facebook, called Boost with Facebook for Tourism Ethiopia, to support small and medium scale businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector that were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is being implemented by Ethiopia-based Summer Media.
Boost with Facebook was launched in August 2020 as a pilot program in Ethiopia with the aim of supporting 5,000 businesses in the tourism sector learn how to use the Facebook family of apps (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) to boost their business’s marketing efforts online.
Commenting on the programme, Weldegebrial Berhe, Marketing Director at Tourism Ethiopia, said that his organisation encourages all small and medium scale businesses to sign up for the program and join the drive to grow Ethiopia’s digital sector; something of import to the country in its economic transition into the post-pandemic landscape.
His sentiments were echoed recently by President Sahlework Zewdie as well in her call for not only Ethiopians, but all Africans to join the drive for the digital development of the entire continent in an inclusive and sustainable way.
The programme is currently being run virtually through instructor-led live webinar sessions led by Summer Media. Participants identify business constraints caused by COVID-19, learn how to manage stranded assets, and develop new strategies and initiatives to survive this and similar adversities.