MONTEGO BAY, St James — TUI Care Foundation’s Target 8.9 recently launched a fund that will provide support for several local micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups in the tourism sector.

“We just launched the Target 8.9 Resilience Fund. Over the next month or so, the businesses will have an opportunity to be able to apply for these funding opportunities,” destination manager for TUI Care Foundation’s Target 8.9 in Jamaica Coral Williams told the Jamaica Observer following a two-day capacity building workshop held last week.

She said there will soon be an open call for interested parties and, at that time, more details will be provided about the size of the fund and criteria needed to access it.

“There will be different tracts, one for early stage businesses that have been in operation for, like, six months to a year; and then we have a growth track which is for businesses that have been in operation for two years or more,” Williams explained.

TUI is already making a difference. During the two-day workshop held at Hotel 39 in Montego Bay last week, a number of business operators in western Jamaica and surrounding areas benefited from a capacity-building exercise. The workshop is part of the TUI Future Shapers push aimed at strengthening the tourism entrepreneurial ecosystem in Montego Bay by providing the tools and resources MSMEs need to improve their competitiveness through innovation and attain sustainable growth through capacity building.

“The important thing is that the businesses that would have participated in this workshop — and most of them would have been businesses that have been participating in the other technical training components that we’ve been providing — they will have first access, of course, as they are part of the TUI Future Shapers beneficiary group,” Williams revealed.

To date, more than 30 business operators and several individuals with start-up ideas have benefited from the tools needed to develop their ventures and — in some cases — get them off the ground.

“Participants of the project get the opportunity to learn, in terms of building themselves and their capacity to grow, as well as they will have the opportunity to access funding facilities to support them,” Williams said.

She explained that the workshop covered topics including what type of funding is best for participants’ respective businesses and there is ongoing access to mentors and coaches.

“It’s not giving them these technical tools and we’re leaving them; we are providing a whole gamut of support for them to take them through to ensure that their businesses can grow,” Williams stressed.

She believes the workshop has come at a critical time for many small business operators in the tourism sector, especially those recovering from the impact of last October’s Hurricane Melissa.

“It’s been absolutely important because what I’ve been getting from them is that they are really happy about the opportunity to be able to participate in this. Not only because they’re businesses and they are trying their very best to do their thing or to get their businesses off the ground but to recover from what would have happened from the hurricane,” said Williams.

Among those who participated in the workshop was Shania Connell, founder of the Gemvoyage app, through which visitors to Jamaica may book reservations for meals, excursions and more.

“We are a start-up and you need money to grow your business. This workshop allows us to be able to access ways of funding that are tailored to our types of business,” Connell told the Observer.

“They tailor it to every type of business so whether you are a start-up, you’re growing or whether you stopped and you’ve started again, they tailor the lessons so that everybody can take something from it to be able to access funds,” she said.

Owner of Signature Fruits, a laser engraving company that operates out of the Artisan Village in Falmouth, Donovan Haughton, also participated and spoke glowingly of the event.

“Thanks to the TUI Future Shapers group we have been able to look at financing, the availability of financing either through loans or grants or a combination in getting and growing your business, especially after Hurricane Melissa,” he said.

Shania Connell and her father Gregg, founders of the tourism start-up Gemvoyage, were among the participants at last week’s capacity-building workshop hosted by TUI Care Foundation’s Target 8.9.

Owner and manager of Signature Fruits Donovan Haughton welcomed the support provided by TUI Foundation’s Target 8.9.

Participants at a recent TUI Care Foundation workshop that provided support for micro, small and medium enterprises within the tourism sector.