Tourism and Travel Get a Digital Boost in the Western Balkans
USAID CATALYZE Supports Western Balkans’ first regional online platform for tourism and travel
Digital technology plays a vital role in the growth and success of businesses, particularly for those in the travel and tourism industry, which took a big hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. With tourism back to near pre-pandemic levels and the bulk of business being done online, the USAID CATALYZE Engines of Growth (EoG) Western Balkans Activity is supporting the use and promotion of the region’s first regional digital platform for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism and travel sector. The North Macedonia IT, consulting, and marketing agency Essence Code is developing the online travel and tourism platform BALKANEA to connect women-SMEs and improve their marketing and promotion online. USAID CATALYZE Engines of Growth Activity will support and onboard 120 women-owned and/or managed SMEs (W-SMEs) from the six Western Balkan economies (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) to the platform. The support will include a package of specific digital marketing services, including a Google business profile (GBP), an SEO optimized website, web and email hosting, listings with booking options on the platform, onboarding training, an individual digital marketing strategy, and an annual promotion package. Through Balkanea, W-SMEs will get digital skills training which will enable them in the long-term to improve their sales and customer management and modernize the way they do business in the tourism sector. The W- SMEs are expected to increase their sales by 50–80%.
At the kickoff for the promotion of BALKANEA, USAID Country Representative Jeri Dible reiterated USAID’s ongoing support for enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs in the country and the region. “A large percentage of businesses in the tourism sector are owned or managed by women. The growth potential of such businesses is largely untapped as female entrepreneurs tend to have fewer opportunities to access the external funding they need to grow. By providing a chance to build their capacities and to promote their businesses, we open the doors for them to access new markets. This will make them and more competitive, which, in turn, will enable them to obtain the external support and funding needed to further grow their businesses.”
Vancho Kosturski, BALKANEA project manager, said, “The digitized tourism sector in the region must innovate and generate new business opportunities to ensure continued competitiveness, growth, and sustainable development of the sector. BALKANEA is the new platform to enable this process.”
The USAID CATALYZE EoG Activity facilitates SME resiliency, growth, and job creation in the Western Balkans by improving their access to and utilization of appropriate finance. EoG helps mobilize capital to sustain viable SMEs and jobs in the wake of COVID-19 in the near term and promotes improved SME growth financing in the long term with a focus on women-owned and women-led SMEs. For more information about CATALYZE EoG visit the webpage.
