TUI Futureshapers Dominican Republic empowers and strengthens youth entrepreneurship by supporting the growth of five youth-run businesses. These tourism enterprises, called Eco Routes, support a lower carbon, inclusive economy by offering sustainable tourism experiences.

The programme provides the 80 people working in the five Eco Routes projects with technical support, which includes multiple workshops on environmental education, life skills, female leadership, legal advice and tax issues. Additional learning objectives covered by the workshops include knowledge on the development, establishment and positioning of a brand, the expert usage of social networks and promotional strategies. Through the programme, the Eco Routes leaders strengthen their skills in negotiation, savings, communication and decision making with a gender focus, which is a key component to break the existing male-dominated gender norms.

TUI Futureshapers Dominican Republic also creates links with existing hotels in the area and an understanding of how best to develop these partnerships, since the Government declared the southwestern region as a priority for tourism development in the coming years and infrastructure development has already started here.

The programme also covers the presentation of the Eco Routes to 320 people including community leaders as well as local governments and institutions. The conclusion of the project coincides with the creation of four additional Eco Routes to provide further employment and growth opportunities for young Dominicans within the tourism industry.