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TOURing Project Wraps Up with Final Conference and Transnational Project Meeting in Brussels

On the 5th of December, The “Navigating the Twin Transition” TOURing Final Conference brought together around 50 key stakeholders from the tourism and education sectors to discuss upskilling and reskilling strategies essential for the hospitality industry’s green and digital transformation.

Notable speakers included Andreea Staicu, Acting Head of Unit at DG GROW, who provided institutional insights, and Elfa Kere, Policy Officer at DG GROW, who addressed EU tourism policies and the status of transition pathways. Klaus Ehrlich, Secretary General of RuralTour, highlighted advancements in tourism education.

Panels featured experts such as Pietro Regazzoni from the Pact for Skills Support Service at Ecorys, Dimitris Giakoulas from IME-GSEVEE, and Julien Vanlaeys from The Hotel, along with testimonials from Federico Tubiello of APRO Formazione and Evelthon Iacovides of the Cyprus Confederation of Professional Craftsmen and Shopkeepers.

The conference concluded with collaborative discussions on regional skills partnerships and TOURing project experiences, shaping the future of tourism SMEs.

The day after, On the 6th of December 2024, the partners of TOURing were hosted at the premises of the EVBB – the European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training. The partners gathered for the last in-person meeting of the project, after launching the initiative almost two years ago in Athens. The host, Antonio Gennarelli, Project Manager of the EVBB, welcomed everyone to their offices, right at the heart of the European Union’s institutions.

The meeting reviewed the progress on the training effort of TOURing, addressing the skills gap of SMEs across 6 European countries, as well as presenting the final versions of many innovative solutions – such as the microcredentials’ issuing process, or the Funding Toolkit for SMEs. A thorough discussion was made on the successful outcomes of the Final Conference, held just the day before at the premises of the European Commission.

The partners shared their enthusiasm to continue working together after the conclusion of the project activities to ensure the sustainability of TOURing results in a much larger frame that can encompass other tourism subsectors or different European countries.