Tour2Include: Results from the initial research on migrants’ employability in the tourism sector

Thursday 30 April 2020

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Tour2Include: Results from the initial research on migrants’ employability in the tourism sector

30 April 2020Migration

Which are the needs of the tourism sector regarding skills and competences of employees? Is there a gap between these needs and migrants’ skills? Which are the training offers specifically tailored to migrants’ needs aimed at overcoming these gaps?

The initial transnational research of the Tour2Include project aimed at finding answers to these and other questions. Thus, all partners from Germany, Italy and Greece, dedicated themselves to a comprehensive desk and field research, analysing the current national situation of migrant employees in the tourism sector and the quality of available training offers as well as employers’ point of view on necessary soft, hard and intercultural skills and, regarding migrants, a possible lack in these. The partnership implemented the research in a two-fold approach, studying available papers and data on the situation as well as collecting tourism and migrations stakeholders’ opinion on the topic through interviews, focus groups and an online questionnaire.

 

National findings of the Research

The Italian research found that the existing educational offers in Italy are scares and not specifically tailored to the needs of migrants or low-skilled migrants and hence underlined the need for more tailored approaches adapted to both, the tourism sector’s and low-skilled migrants’ needs. In addition, participants to the field research evaluated the current offers as not adequate: they are neither innovative nor promoting creative thinking, even though they have been perceived as adequately practice-oriented.

Interviewees and participants to the online questionnaire underlined the necessity of skills, such as language skills (local language), oral and written expression, the ability to work in teams, willingness to serve the guest, time management as well as cultural awareness. In addition to these, the desk research highlighted the need for tourism management, food and beverage management, knowledge of local/regional/national cultural heritage and traditions. However, it also became clear that migrants currently seem to lack some of these skills, among them a high level of the local language, accompanied by the ability to effectively communicate both orally and in writing, as well as a good knowledge of the local territory and context as well as its dynamics, including local culture and traditions.

Next steps

In the next months, partners will develop a prior-learning assessment approach, in order to evaluate and better understand the qualifications and skills migrants already possess. Combined with the findings of the initial research, this will allow for the development of specific, practice-oriented training programmes, tailored to both, tourism employers’ and low-skilled migrants’ needs.

About the project

Tour2Include – Migrants’ Integration into Tourism-Related Professions is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education.

Partners

For further information

Read more about Tour2Include

For further positive information about the project, please read the project description or contact Paula Goltzsche: paula.goltzsche@cesie.org

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