European Projects
ICARUS (International Co-operation, Assistance and Resources Uniting Students) 2007–2009
HND Travel & Tourism (Hospitality, Travel & Tourism)
The aim of this Grundtvig European partnership, which involves training institutes from Italy and Bulgaria, is to compare, contrast and develop tourist and cultural information.
The partnership was intended to produce a website which would provide an overview of the tourism provision in each of the three partner areas. This website would provide details of accommodation, attraction, leisure and excursions available to potential visitors. It was envisaged that the website would differ from those which already existed as the content would come from the perspective of the members of the project and would therefore contain their subjective views and opinions. Although intended to provide a positive image of the destinations, it was hoped that this opinion based perspective would differ from some existing website guides of a more commercial or state sponsored nature.
Staff & students enjoying the sunshine in Sengallia in Italy
Furthermore, the question of existing hospitality and tourism training and education in the three areas had been addressed in an attempt to make recommendations in terms of filling any gaps which may have existed.
Visits to each of the three partners took place throughout the duration of the project. This allowed a sharing of views and experiences between all those learners involved. It also allowed for the existing tourism provision in the destinations to be evaluated from several perspectives.
The project members stayed in touch and communicated throughout by using a specially constructed online discussion forum.
Staff & Students on their recent trip to Gabrovo in Bulgaria
Views of tourists and local employers were also collected via questionnaires in order to aid the required research.
The main aims of the projects were:
- To encourage and facilitate the sharing of views and experiences between adult learners from several European nations.
- To highlight best practice in tourism taking into account different determining factors with a set of recommendations to advance current rural, coastal and urban tourism.
- To analyse the different educational systems and qualifications offered in the area of travel and tourism at vocational and higher education level, and advise market needs in connection with future qualifications.
- To develop an interactive dynamic on-line city brochure for the benefit of the cities involved and their visitors. The website is used as a networking tool to disseminate project findings and establish a network of institutions involved in the travel and tourism sector.