“TOURING”: Project presentation in Cyprus
Upgrading green and digital skills in tourism
With great interest and participation from tourism stakeholders in Cyprus, the first presentation of the European TOURING project, which focuses on upgrading the green and digital skills of human resources in the tourism sector, took place on 23 March. The presentation event was organised by the two organisations implementing the project in Cyprus, GS POVEK and the communication consultants Opinion and Action.
The event took place at the Leventis Gallery in Nicosia and was attended by representatives of businesses (hotels, restaurants, suppliers, etc.), associations of tourism operators (travel agents, tour operators, guides, cooks, development companies, etc.), as well as vocational training institutions and teachers.
After the presentation, the POVEK General Assembly and Opinion organized a structured discussion in the form of a focus group in order to record views, problems, challenges to be codified as a direct contribution of the businesses in the market in the process of developing the TOURING training project.
Some points from the discussion that stood out from the dialogue and the structured focus group discussion relate to the following key needs for Cypriot tourism: (a) upgrading the quality of education in tourism professions at all levels of education (b) attracting new human resources to tourism professions as a basic career option (c) continuous training of staff in tourism businesses (d) strengthening cooperation between hotels, restaurants and producers for quality and authenticity (e) improving the quality of tourism products and services (f) improving the quality of tourism education in all levels of education (g) improving the quality of tourism education in all levels of education (h) improving the quality of tourism education in all levels of education (i) improving the quality of tourism education in all levels of education (f) strengthening the green dimension of businesses to attract new quality and demanding tourism.
The organisers also presented the Pact for Skills platform created by the EU to promote skills across Europe, part of which is related to tourism.
The event was moderated by the journalist Kyriakos Pierides – Opinion and Action, the secretary of the Small and Medium Enterprises Research Foundation of the General Assembly of POVEK Philip Demetriou, business consultant – trainer and the Treasurer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Research Foundation, business consultant – trainer of the General Assembly of POVEK Evelthon Iakovidis.
The TOURING project
TOURing aims at the restructuring of micro and small and medium-sized tourism enterprises. By upgrading the green and digital skills of their human resources, TOURing will contribute to the creation of a tourism sector that is economically, digitally and environmentally sustainable, through the implementation of more sustainable and digital infrastructure in micro and small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
TOURing will develop educational material and digital learning tools through an effective two-way learning mechanism between the partner VET institutions and tourism enterprises. In this way it will bridge the needs of the market with more tailored training and education programmes. In this way, they will mutually upgrade their skills and increase the quality and attractiveness of vocational education and training at European, national, regional and local level.
Links
TOURING
Follow us on social media @Touring Project (Facebook), @TOURing project (LinkedIn), @touring_project_eu (Instagram) | Pact for Skills / Tourism: TOURing will contribute to the development of the Networking Hub for tourism.
Contacts
Opinion and Action Services Ltd
Tel: 22 875561
email: info@opinionaction.com
GA POVEK
Tel: 22 753862
Email: povekcy@cytanet.com.cy