On 8 and 9 February 2016 the TTRAIN project partners met in Vienna to compare and discuss the results of the Gap Analysis on existing training and training needs in the tourism sector in Austria, Finland, Iceland and Italy. For their respective country reports, the partner organisations analysed in the past months studies and statistics on the state of the art of the tourism sector. In addition, experts from tourism companies were interviewed to better understand their needs and preferences concerning vocational training. Although the situation of the tourism sector, including training offers and employment needs, varies widely across the partner countries, common training needs could be identified. The Gap Analysis Summary, which will present the results of the country reports, will soon be available on the project’s website.
Based on the findings from the Gap Analysis, partners further elaborated the training curriculum for vocational instructors in the tourism sector. The curriculum is based on a proven methodology named “Stepping Stones”. It foresees a practical training, which alternates between classroom lessons and exercises at the workplace, so that participants can put their newly acquired competences immediately into practice.
The curriculum will now be adapted according to the findings of the Gap Analysis, and subsequently be tested in pilot training courses in all four partner countries. After the piloting phase, partners will compare their experiences and elaborate a final curriculum, which will also be made available on an interactive learning portal.
During the second day of the meeting, a trainer from the Icelandic Bifrost University, the coordinating organisation of TTRAIN, held a workshop on the practical implementation of the training curriculum. Creative and interactive methods and exercises of learning were presented and tested by the partners, including a game demonstrating the importance of communication and team work for problem solving.
CESIE will implement the pilot training course between April and June 2016 in Sicily. CESIE is also responsible for the coordination of all communication and dissemination activities and will develop the learning portal in the second half of the project.
For further information on the Erasmus+ funded TTRAIN project, please contact Dorothea Urban: dorothea.urban@cesie.org. Follow us also on Facebook and Twitter!
Project partners are:
- Bifröst University (Iceland) – Project Coordinators
- BEST Institut GmbH (Austria)
- CESIE (Italy)
- SAF – Icelandic Travel Industry Association (Iceland)
- Kajaanin University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
