IN-TOUR - INclusive TOURism Professions. European Curricula For Accessible Tourism Manager And Frontline Staff

Studies conducted by the European Commission have highlighted a significant gap in the supply of Accessible Tourism services, estimating that at least an additional 1.2 million tourism enterprises will be needed to provide accessible services in order to meet future demand.

The In-Tour project aims to cover the need for quality education and training on Accessible Tourism for hospitality Managers and Frontline Staff, in particular by:

1. defining an occupational profile (according to ESCO definition) for Inclusive Tourism Manager and Inclusive Tourism Frontline Staff.
2. specifying the skill gaps by connecting directly the demand with representatives of tourism industries and entrepreneurs and by analysing the good practices already developed
3. defining the European Curricula in the accessible tourism sector, at EQF 6 level and EQF 4 level;
4. designing a flexible and modular training path for both professional profiles: Tourism Managers and Tourism Frontline Staff
5. delivering the curricula in pilot courses in different countries.

The Curricula will be defined in a flexible and modular way in order to provide a general reference European model which could be implemented in each EU Member State. The Curricula will be tested though the local pilots and will include periods of work-based learning.

Watch our video made for ERASMUSDAYS 2020, 15 to 17 October 2020

Approach

The IN-TOUR project takes place within the overall framework for cooperation in education and training ET 2020 and will focus on “graduates VET” for the Inclusive Tourism Manager profile (ITM) and “undergraduates VET” for the Inclusive Tourism Frontline Staff (ITFS), involving 3 Universities providing VET.

Starting from the definition of two Occupational Profiles, IN-TOUR will design two EU Curricula based on modules and learning-outcomes in order to support their “localization”, i.e. to be established in different EU countries by adapting the courses to the context. Moreover the curricula designed following the ECVET principle can be designed locally at different EQF levels.

The IN-TOUR project will evaluate the flexibility of the Curricula by designing 5 pilot courses in 3 different countries, as follows:

ITFS course at EQF level 5 will be implemented in Germany and Greece. The German pilot will address a minimum of 20 students for 300h and will provide a Lifelong Learning Certificate and will credit 20-30 ECTS. The Greek pilot will address a minimum of 20 students for 260h and will provide a Certificate of Postgraduate Training and will credit 20-30 ECTS. The credits will be fixed according with the design of the courses and the LO addressed.

ITM course at EQF levels 6 and 7 will be implemented in Germany, Greece and Italy. The German pilot at EQF 6 level will address a minimum of 20 students for 300 hours and will provide a Lifelong Learning Certificate equivalent to 1 semester in a Bachelor’s Degree program and will credit 20-30 ECTS. The Greek pilot (EQF6) will address a minimum of 20 students for 260 hours and will provide a Certificate of Postgraduate Training Lifelong Learning Certificate and will credit 20-30 ECTS. The Italian pilot will address a minimum of 20 students and will be realised to reach EQF7 level, the course envisages a 370 hour training for 60 ECTS credits. Students will receive a certification of Master Universitario di Primo Livello.

The training will include classroom lessons, distance learning and work-based learning (blended learning). The specific content, methods and resources will be arranged during the activities of Work Package 3 and 4, while the evaluation of curriculum, tools and participants’ learning will be carried out through the activities of Work Package 6.

Project Data

Project Website: https://in-tour.eu

Contact

Project Manager: Mr. Marco Pizzio, Head of Accessible Tourism, AISM. Email: marco.pizzio@aism.it