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Organization type: NGO
Profile:
Citizens Development Corps (CDC) is a U.S.-based NGO that promotes private sector and civil society development in transitional economies through a series of flexible, innovative, and targeted programs and services. CDC’s primary focus is strengthening the capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and associations that support local businesses. By providing direct technical assistance and training to various ministries, regional development councils, chambers of commerce, business and trade associations, municipal government agencies, and local non-profit and for-profit organizations, CDC programs focus on building local capacity to ensure the sustainability of program activities and impacts.
The Tourism Development Corps (TDC), a division of CDC, focuses on tourism as a vehicle to increase the competitiveness, capacity, and efficiency of SMEs in emerging economies. To do this, CDC conducts a comprehensive infrastructure and needs assessment at the outset of a project so that interventions and programs can be customized to the specific location. CDC provides an integrated set of interventions that include group training, one-on-one management and technical assistance, market development, creation of regional tourism councils, and networking and capacity-building for local business support providers and associations. In addition, CDC works directly with local, municipal and regional governments to improve the quality and competitiveness of the tourism industry as a whole.
CDC has developed cluster and sector strategies to help clients build local supply chains, deliver quality products that meet international standards, secure funding, attract foreign direct investment, and develop and implement strategic plans for regional development. To complement its core technical assistance services, CDC also provides SMEs worldwide with the information, referrals, and networks they need to establish local, regional and international linkages to promote the tourism industry.
TDC’s Mission:
To assist individuals, businesses, regional and national governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders to take full advantage of the opportunities presented directly and indirectly by the tourism industry.
TDC’s Vision:
A world in which the unique capacity of the tourism industry is used as the driver for broad and equitable economic growth and opportunity.
TDC’s Values:
- Ensuring that tourism development is undertaken in a responsible and sustainable manner
- Supporting cultural heritage
- Promoting environmental stewardship
- Benefiting local communities
- Building local capacity and sustainability
- Utilizing best practices and maintaining a continuous commitment to learning
- Forming strategic partnerships with organizations that are most capable of addressing all facets of the tourism industry
Areas of Sustainable Tourism (ST) expertise:
CDC recognizes that other individuals, enterprises, and organizations have made significant contributions to the use of tourism as a development tool. To meet the demands for quality tourism development, provide innovative wise-use-without-abuse programming, and draw on additional tourism expertise, TDC, along with its founding partner, The International Institute of Tourism Studies at The George Washington University, is forging a remarkable alliance with diverse implementing partners from around the world. These include top universities with tourism management programs, tourism marketing companies, travel publication groups, environmental organizations, associations with unmatched skills in tourism-related fields, and a global advisory board of leading professionals from a wide range of sectors.
TDC and its partner organizations use a number of approaches to employ tourism as a vehicle for economic growth and development:
- Supply Chain Strengthening and Industry Cluster Development
- Private Sector Development
- Associations and Civil Society Development
- Market Development
- National and Municipal Strategy
- Natural Resources Management
Particular tourism niches:
Together with CDC’s implementing partners, TDC targets the following sectors, services, and products across the value chain of tourism, including hospitality (hotels, restaurants, cafés, bed & breakfasts, catering), access to finance, financial management, agriculture, travel and tour operators, sites and attractions, agrotourism and ecotourism, infrastructure, government, local/regional economic development, education, and supply chain management.
CDC views tourism as a vehicle to increase the competitiveness, capacity, and efficiency of SMEs in emerging economies; to facilitate the development of a vibrant tourism trade, CDC conducts comprehensive infrastructure and needs assessments at the outset of projects. As a result, programmatic activities can be customized to the environment and conditions of a specific location. CDC has seen great success in its tourism initiatives thus far, and plans to continue expanding into more regions. Already, CDC’s Tourism Model has been implemented in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, and Romania.
An integral component of the CDC Tourism Model is the support of the development of the local handicrafts industry. Developing the handicrafts market offers local artisans an outlet for their goods, increases the visibility of a region, and reduces urban flight from rural areas. CDC believes that building the capacity of the textile sector in developing countries, for instance, promotes the ability of underserved populations, such as women, IDPs, and refugees, to increase their per capita income. Other components of the CDC Tourism Model include tools such as the creating of regional tourism councils, working directly with local, municipal and regional governments, and bringing multiple stakeholders from local communities and businesses to the table to increase the quality and competitiveness of the tourism industry.
As a development organization that uses volunteers, CDC is able to utilize experts from all areas of tourism. With nearly 8,000 volunteers and a number of partnerships with top universities and trade associations, CDC is able to provide volunteers from government, industry, and academia. These volunteers provide peer-based training and technical assistance and are able to speak first-hand about the importance of tourism to all of its stakeholders. CDC’s ability to recruit experts and practitioners in every aspect of the tourism industry is unmatched.
Regions worked:
- Asia and the Near East:
- Europe and Eurasia:
- Azerbaijan
- Bulgaria
- Romania
- Russia
- Latin America and the Caribbean:
USAID projects:
- Azerbaijan: Economic and Enterprise Development Program (1999-2004)
Through the USAID-funded Azerbaijan Economic and Enterprise Development program, CDC worked with 150 SMEs and assisted local arts and crafts providers to develop and open a center in Baku where entrepreneurs could collectively sell their wares, thereby branding Azerbaijani arts and crafts. This helped to preserve rural culture and contribute to the resettlement and development of local communities.
- Bulgaria: Business and Trade Development (2004-2007)
CDC’s activities in Bulgaria have focused on the country’s tourism industry and have simultaneously created an impact on related industries, therefore increasing benefits to a wide range of Bulgarian businesses. CDC has assisted private and municipal-level tourism associations in the areas of strategic planning and marketing, new product development, and association and membership development. CDC has also conducted trainings and assisted individual hotels, tour companies, travel agencies, and other businesses in the tourism industry in areas such as management, food service, package tours, targeted marketing and market research, business plan formulation, tourism education and curriculum development (including study tours), and consultancy training. CDC is also enhancing the capacity of local Billing and Settlement Plans (BSPs) to provide services to the SME sector in Bulgaria. Though the program provides assistance in several sectors, a primary component is increasing the capacity of local tourism industry businesses and the firms that support them.
- The Caribbean: Small Tourism Enterprise Program (2003-2005)
The Small Tourism Enterprise Program (STEP) project was funded by the Organization of American States (OAS) and USAID. This project focused on the creation of a support and assistance service for small hotels in fourteen participating countries in the Caribbean. The primary emphasis was on technology and hotel management support through volunteer programs. The program implemented a range of services for Caribbean small tourism enterprises, and increased the level of emphasis on environmental management. In this program, CDC has collaborated with OAS to provide specific, firm-level technical expertise required for proper skills transfer to clients in Antigua, The Bahamas, Grenada, Jamaica St. Kitts, and Trinidad and Tobago. More specifically, CDC’s role was to provide general management and operations assistance to the hotels and their in-house restaurants, under the aegis of the OAS-STEP program. CDC has assisted 22 individual hotels, working with them to improve their marketing, (both traditional and internet-based), introduce new human resource capabilities, develop new recipes and sanitation methods for their restaurants, and provide recommendations to improve infrastructure and overall operations.
- Romania: Enterprise Development and Strengthening Program (2003-2008)
CDC conducted an in-depth analysis of Romania’s tourism industry that explored the implications of government policies, the current statistics for tourism, the business environment for SMEs, the competitiveness of tourism, and the barriers to increased growth and implementation of new projects. In collaboration with other local international partners, CDC developed a series of workshops to increase the value of the artisans’ crafts to visitors. CDC also conducted a series of trainings in conjunction with local handicrafts experts to increase artisans’ understanding of marketing concepts related to selling their products to tourists.
- Russia: Developing BSIs and Building their Capacity to Assist the Tourism Industry (2001-2004)
As part of the USAID-funded Integrated Business Services program, which concluded in March 2004, CDC worked directly with 68 business support institutions (BSIs) to develop their capacity to provide assistance to the tourism industry. CDC provided direct technical assistance and training seminars to expose a large number of businesses to the spectrum of activities that are undertaken by world-class destinations to promote their locales and serve visitors. This included government relations, image development, marketing, publicity, and challenges to tourism development. As a result of CDC interventions, the number of tourists in the Novgorod the Great market jumped by an estimated 480%. Moreover, a group of BSIs is now working with CDC and a private U.S.-based foundation to develop and market the Russian Heritage Highway as a tourist destination.
- Thailand: Expanding Markets (2003)
A CDC Volunteer helped the Art & Technology Company in Chang Mai, Thailand, update its business and increase sales of its handicraft kits. As the largest cross-stitch kit producer in Thailand, Art & Technology wanted to enter the lucrative U.S. hobby and craft market. However, due to a restrictive textile export quota limit between Thailand and the U.S., Art & Technology was frustrated in its efforts to enter the U.S. market. After conducting studies in both domestic and international markets, CDC’s Volunteer Advisor provided the Thai company with suggestions for better knowledge and information management, and educated the company on the dynamics and characteristics of the U.S. retail system and hobby and craft market. Additionally, CDC’s Volunteer Advisor suggested options for growth within the domestic Thailand market by targeting the product to younger Thai audiences, as well as the expatriate community in Chang Mai. Finally, the Volunteer Advisor worked the Art & Technology Company to develop a market entry strategy for exporting handicrafts to the U.S.
Recent ST partnerships and collaborations:
- The George Washington University
- Open Africa
- Solimar Marketing & Travel
- The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT)
- University of Hawaii School of Tourism and Industry Management
- Organization of American States Inter-Sectoral Unit for Tourism
- Net Corps Americas
- Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
- Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance
- Geo-Heritage Group
CDC/TDC also has a number of U.S.-based partners from which they draw volunteers. They are establishing alliances with a number of state-level tourism and environmental agencies, and with industry associations and universities that focus on all aspects of tourism development.
Contact:
Kate Ahern
Citizens Development Corps, Inc.
1726 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036 USA
Phone: (202) 530-7663
www.cdc.org
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