EUROPETOUR - Vocational Training in Cultural Tourism for European Heritage

EUROPETOUR project aimed at improving the professional qualification of actors in the cultural tourism market of rural areas in eight European countries by qualifying staff and local stakeholders in creating attractive offers and in using social media marketing. It equally targeted actors from tourism as well as culture and strived in a holistic and integrative approach to include all relevant actors and unlock the economic potential for their business opportunities. They were trained in the development of cultural-touristic offers and the business-oriented use of social media in the marketing of cultural tourism.The ten EUROPETOUR partners from Germany, Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, Poland and Spain represented culture, tourism, training providers, local and regional authorities, business developers and cultural touristic networks. At the core of the project were four cultural touristic European networks in Germany (Baden-Württemberg), Poland (in the border region of Brandenburg and Zachodniopomorskie), Romania (Bucovina) and Austria. Two more European regions were included: Marche/Italy and Cantabria/Spain. They analysed their experiences, pull strategies and target audiences and defined their training needs for creating appealing cultural touristic offers for visitors to their regions. A set of eight multi-lingual training modules for staff of culture and tourism institutions was developed. In an additional document, recommendations for the professional use of social media were condensed in Guidelines. All training material was communicated to culture and tourism institutions on national and European level. The multi-lingual training material is available in an electronic platform with open access: www.europetour.tips.