In collaboration with Facebook, Tourism Ethiopia announced it is launching a digital marketing program to help small and medium businesses in tourism and hospitality that have been most affected by COVID-19.
Dubbed "Boost with Facebook for Tourism Ethiopia", the digital marketing program has been launched in August 2020 as a pilot program. Through the program, 5,000 small and medium businesses will learn to use Facebook family apps such as Facebook Instagram, and WhatsApp to help boost their tourism businesses online.
Weldegebrial Berhe, Marketing Director at Tourism Ethiopia, remarked, “Tourism Ethiopia is delighted to work with Facebook and Summer Media to implement the Boost with Facebook for Tourism Ethiopia,” adding Tourism Ethiopia encourages "tourism stakeholders and SMBs to sign up and equip themselves with the necessary digital marketing skills they need to recover from the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to enhance the online presence of Ethiopia as a tourist destination.”
Mercy Ndegwa, Facebook’s Head of Public Policy for East and Horn of Africa, related Facebook “remains committed to supporting governments and the private sector across the region in recovering their economies due to the COVID-19 pandemic”.
“It is now more important to equip and empower businesses, communities, and the next generation of leaders to better utilize the power of digital tools and take full advantage of what the internet has to offer,” Ndegwa highlighted.
Summer Media, an Ethiopian digital marketing company, is implementing the program. Currently, Summer Media runs the program virtually via instructor-led live webinars sessions. Currently, the program is focused on helping small and medium businesses in the tourism industry learn how to manage stranded assets and develop new strategies and business initiatives to survive the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Ethiopian Monitor
