A collaborative project undertaken by The UWI, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management (FS) to support Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) through upskilling and digitalization was announced as a winner of the 2022 Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Awards.

The Business Adaptation Programme, developed to assist tourism MSMEs in the Eastern Caribbean, received the 2022 Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Awards in the category of Tourism Education and Training, and was honoured at a virtual awards ceremony in February 2023.

The programme was a response to an invitation by the UNDP’s office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean to partner to assist more than 300 Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) increase their digital skills resilience to external shocks and access new markets within the tourism value chain. The UNDP Future Tourism Project was formulated as a response to the effects of COVID-19 on the tourism sector and its subsequent impact on MSMEs.

Through a series of online sessions hosted by the University’s Open Campus, the MSMEs were equipped with tailored training, coaching and mentorship, informed of steps to digitalization and provided with information surrounding digital technologies, marketing and financial planning. A US$250,000 sustainability grant was awarded to The UWI to support the hosting of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) from Airbnb, the online marketplace for short-term homestays.

The grant will be used to support the Building Climate Knowledge, Attitudes and Awareness Across the Caribbean (Project: C-KAP) led by the Centre, to help raise awareness among Caribbean Micro, Small and Medium Sized Tourism Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) about the importance of climate-responsible practices in their operations, as well as encourage them to take urgent action to combat climate change.