UP- & REskilling Sustainable Tourism in a new digital era

<< Background >>We applied for this project to address the challenges faced by the European tourism sector post-COVID-19. The pandemic disrupted traditional tourism models, emphasising the need for adaptation through digital experiences and sustainable practices. These factors became crucial for tourists when choosing destinations, making them essential for the competitiveness and recovery of the tourism industry.These factors became key in shaping tourists’ decisions about which destinations to visit. The project was designed to address these needs by focusing on the upskilling of local officials, tourism professionals, and organisations by equipping them with the necessary knowledge to harness digital innovation and sustainability. This was achieved through continuous education and training, allowing stakeholders to adopt new approaches that would drive the sector's recovery.We identified skill gaps among local business actors and provided targeted training solutions. Scalable programmes were developed to help tourism businesses integrate digital solutions, and cooperation between local authorities and business actors was strengthened through the creation of a learning ecosystem focused on sustainable tourism.<< Objectives >>When preparing for this project, we identified a general objective, as well as a number of specific objectives. The general objective was to increase the digital skills of the actors in the field of sustainable tourism while promoting new learning pathways to contribute to the recovery of the sector. We then defined three specific objectives, the first one being to identify gaps in the skills of the local business actors and develop training solutions accordingly; the second one to develop re-scalable training solutions for business actors in the field of tourism related to new digital solutions to be applied locally; and the third one to improve cooperation between the local authority and the business actors by developing a learning ecosystem focused on sustainable tourism.<< Implementation >>The project implementation was based on the following activities:• Project coordination meetings (M1-M15-M30) (Vänersborg, Rijeka, Parma-SERN) and online coordination meetings • A transnational seminar aimed at discussing the results of the survey and at exchanging practices • Peer review activities between representatives of the local ecosystems of the partners • The organisation of 4 multiplier events to promote and disseminate the project results • Joint work for the achievement of the project results: A map of the training needs of the local ecosystem, a C-VET training package for sustainable tourism professionals, a guide for follow-up activities at ecosystem level.By organising the different methodologies and training activities under a mutual partnership like in this project, the participants were able help each other work towards common solutions and shared objectives in a more effective manner than what would have been otherwise be possible if they had had to do it on their own domestically.<< Results >>The project achieved the following outcomes:• In relation to the first objective: to identify existing gaps in the skills of the local business actors in the field of sustainable tourism. The following outcomes and results were achieved: -A Map of the digital training needs the local sustainable tourism ecosystem was created - Increased knowledge about the training needs of the professionals and civil servants - Improved understanding of the local ecosystem digital skills gaps.• In relation to the Specific Objective 2: To develop re-scalable training solutions for business actors in the field of tourism related to new digital solutions to be applied locally. The following outcomes and results were achieved: - Improved digital skills among local business actors in the field of sustainable tourism- A better use of open data at local level among civil servants and professionals- A set of new training contents was developed- Best practices were discussed and mutually exchanged- Peer review methodology was shared among partners and modelled to the specificity of the business sector- A training package for the actors of the local sustainable tourism ecosystem was created• In relation to the third specific objective: To improve cooperation between the local authority and the business actors by developing a learning ecosystem focused on sustainable tourism. The following outcomes and results were achieved:- Increased contacts between the local ecosystem and the municipalities - A long-term approach to C-VET and learning at local ecosystem level adopted in the partner organisations - Improved knowledge of decision-makers about the local ecosystem - Guidelines for follow-up activities and continuous upskilling of the local ecosystem on sustainable tourism were developed