A Projectet koordinaló ECOTRANS oldalain sok hasznos  és érdekes anyag található. Web cimük: http://www.ecotrans.org/Englishfr.htm

A Tourism Learning Area is a concept aimed at improving human potential for running the tourism sector. In essence, a Learning Area is a based on a knowledge network of stakeholders who develop a series of market places for life-long formal and informal learning. It can be focused on a specific territorial level, a thematic or a sector, or a mixture of the three.  A learning area can bring coherence, creativity and cost savings to educational and sectoral governance processes. Quality, innovation, competitiveness and sustainability are key goals of a Learning Area.

Appendix 1 Provisional Learning Area Profiles

Austria  Karl Reiner NETS

The Austrian project will focus on the thematic topic of Mobility in the Tourism Sector. Using the existing NETS partnerships, it will elaborate the service provider – client base model with the aim of delivering a Learning Area that offers more profitable, cost effective, and sustainable transport systems in and between tourism destinations.

Germany      Marion Hammerl, Lake Constance Foundation, Herbert Hamele Ecotrans De

Since 1998 the Lake Constance foundation has been developing all activities under the motto „Zukunftsfähiger Bodensee“ (Sustainable Lake Constance). All projects include concrete activities to demonstrate that sustainable economical development is possible. The objectives of the project are:

1.                                    (ecological aim) Relief and the long-term protection of the natural resources, with the focus on water

2.                                    (economical aim) Promotion of an environmentally compatible economy management in regional significant line of business by pilot projects in the area of forestry, agriculture, navigation and tourism and mobility.

3.                                    (socio-cultural aim) Promotion of a cross-border cooperation and strengthening of an independent regional identity.

The already established networks of cross-border authorities, private organisations and NGOs will contribute to the development of a Provisional Learning area as an implementation tool to meet these objectives, using Landscape Planning for tourism as the unifying theme of the regional Provisional Learning Area.

Italy   Lorenzo Canova University of Rome/ACTA, Dagmar Diwok     ACTA

Lorenzo Canova is a special expert teaching tourism science in three Italian universities and advising and managing regional structural fund expenditure for the Italian government. His involvement at two levels of the Project (Special Expert and Provisional Learning Area Co-ordinator) helps provide better team coherence. In Italy ACTA will be using the Provisional Learning Area model to lead a field test dealing with local participation, negotiation techniques, promotion of consortia, and networking of SME's in the tourism sector.

This will involve:

Italian Universities and high schools including University of Bergamo and University of Milano Importantly, Acta has a very up to date database of all Italian institutes and resources for training in tourism, from professional schools to high schools to universities to Masters.

Two different types of private tourism consortia:  (at Crotone, which is composed of ca. 100 SME's of which at least 50% are hotels and clubs, and Trapani (Sicily), ca. 40 hotels and clubs, which have recently obtained financing through the structural funds

This Provisonal Learning area is also expected to develop the issue of sustainable tourism in European Protected Areas by involving the National Parks, Pollino and Monti Sibillini) where ACTA is already implementing processes in terms of local and tourism development.

ACTA will also work closely with several Italian and European tour operators (f.ex. Studiosus, Cts, Viaggi del Ventaglio) for whom ACTA already develops training modules in several areas (f.ex. environmental management for hoteliers under contract, basic knowledge of sustainable tourism criteria for tour guides, etc ..)

The Netherlands      Naut Kusters ECEAT, Niek Beunders NHTV

ECEAT has an extensive range of tourism training expertise that includes a current Leonardo da Vinci project that is making an inventory of rural tourism training material , training institutions and trainers in Europe. It is creating a web-based data-base on rural tourism training material for entrepreneurs and is undertaking the: development of a standarized European curricula for rural tourism training; development of up-to-date training material for pre-starter, basic, advanced and specialized courses in rural tourism; Selection and training of one training institution in each European country; Establishment of a European internet based helpdesk for vocational training in rural tourism; and finally, creation of a European network foundation for rural tourism training.  

All of this experience and collaboration will shape the formation of a Provisional Learning Area that emphasises the thematic of rural tourism enterprise and destination development.

Portugal  Gordon Sillence INPECO

The Instituto Portugues de Ecologia are currently coordinating the Portuguese part of the Gruntvig Citizens School Socrates project.  Work is already underway to develop the concepts of Life Long Learning in tourism destinations. Simultaneously INPECO has been active in promoting the Algarve Sustainable Tourism Network, working closely with both public sector and private sector organizations. A Provisional Learning Area for the Algarve Tourism Sector will be set up, using regional co-ordination bodies to improve the delivery and take up of information, training and production/marketing opportunities in local tourism destinations.

In particular this project will emphasise the Gap Analysis methodology as a key tool to identify missing or dysfunctional institutional linkages, and develop policy recommendations for integrated governance of tourism destinations as a means of delivering effective learning experiences.  It will focus on the  - public sector private sector interface, and develop practical solution-oriented strategies for post-project implementation.

United Kingdom         Xavier Font, Rhodri Thomas Leeds Metropolitan University

Leeds Metropolitan University teaches tourism, hospitality and events management to over 1,300 students, as well as conducting research, consultancy and development projects. LMU has extensive experience in the analysis of the operations of small tourism and hospitality firms, with particular emphasis on the analysis of skills needs, demand and utilisation. Recent projects have included large scale 'barometer' surveys of skills for

tourism, hospitality and events SMEs, impacts of graduates on the business performance of tourism and hospitality SMEs, and the impact and role on regeneration and regional competitiveness. LMU also has experience in and the delivery of training packages, such as ESF projects on training in management of food hygiene and food product innovation,

facilitating innovative growth in food SMEs, IT training for tourism firms, environmental management training for rural tourism, and training in deprived areas, amongst others.

LMU plans to focus on the analysis of the learning needs and 'resource deficiencies' (focusing particularly on human and social capital) in an area that is seeking regeneration via community development.  This will be done by establishing a Provisional Learning Area in the Leader + area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, a coastal region overly reliant on declining low expenditure tourism and low added value agriculture. There are key lessons to be learned in the challenges from building capacity, empowering deprived communities and collaborative working in an area with high needs for reskilling for diversification and quality enhancement. These lessons will be fed into the Learning Area Model of Excellence by specifically showing how to enable change amongst communities with a low level of education and skills, poor tourism networks and low destination image.  

Hungary - Pal Hajas  Hungarian AgroTourism Consortium:  

In field testing the Learning Areas concept the Hungarian project will focus on the Spa and rural/agro tourism. Hungarian training institutions (universities, high schools) show increasing interest to serve the tourism sector with formal and non-formal education programmes.  

The Hungarian partners in this project have a strong background in rural/agro-and eco-tourism, and integrated their rural tourism development with the Euro village programme, They have already established a consortium of tourism related stakeholders that will act as the basis to establish a provisional learning area. This project will test the reality of implementing a Learning Area in an Accession State, and draw pertinent policy recommendations for more informed Commission decision-taking on issues of tourism information & training services in an expanding Europe.

 The Virtual PLA  Gordon Sillence, Core Team

The application of Net Technologies is a vital component of tourism sector competitiveness.  Learning Areas, with their links to learning regions and learning communities, cannot afford to ignore the potential of the virtual linkages that are made across the Internet zone.  Being aware of the current Commission action on eLearning, the core team will look to provide coherent linkages between Learning Area implementation and eLearning development.  The virtual PLA will be drawn from stakeholders on the internet, on a global to local basis. An e-meeting between participating stakeholders  will be held according to the same project implementation methodology of the other PLAs.  The aim would be to see if an end product of the exercise could be defined that stimulated moves towards improving European tourism sector competitiveness through quality improvements. The EEA Destinet Portal has been suggested as a test site for this action.

Appendix 2 Questionnaire

Questionnaire on Tourism Learning Areas v3 May 21^st 2004

 About the Tourism Learning Areas questionnaire:

 The European Commission DG Enterprise Tourism Unit has undertaken to develop a Handbook for setting up Learning Areas in the tourism sector.  There will be a trial of 7 (Provisional) Learning Areas led by the European sustainable tourism network ECOTRANS in different member States – Austria, Germany, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, and one Virtual (Provisional) Learning Area. This questionnaire will be used to develop the handbook.   

When applied to the tourism sector, a learning area should develop stakeholders that are more capable of:

• Creating quality products and services,

• Demonstrating innovative capability,

• Increasing performance and outputs

• Being more autonomous

• Displaying greater work place flexibility

• Operating in an entrepreneurial context

• Working with rapidly changing technology

• Developing adaptive strategies in the face of globalisation and global change.

This questionnaire has been targeted at the following groups:

·         Tourism Unit Learning Area Steering group supporters

·         European Level Stakeholders and MS Representatives

·         Regional Learning Area stakeholders

 We would very much appreciate your help in providing this information. It should only take up to 20 minutes of your time. All contributions will be made public during the course of this project. Your contact with us will provide value contact for future collaboration, and you will be sent the results of our work.

Please fill in as a word document and send to Contact: email: >>> click

Contact Details (cut and paste your own format if necessary)

Name of Organisation:

Contact Person:

Department/Position:

Address:

Email:

Telephone:

Fax:

1. Do you provide information, educational and training services? If so, please list. (your can refer to a website or e- brochure if you wish)

a) Formal:

b) Informal:

 (Please also list here in-house educational, training or awareness raising programmes:

2. Do you usually require any information, educational or training services?

Please List:

a) Formal

b) Informal

3. Do you know of good examples of well-organised learning partnerships or networks?

 Please List:

4. Do you have relevant training /educational/information material for formal or informal learning that you would be able to put

a) on line.

b) as hard copy

(Please list up to 3 examples)

5. Do you currently use:

• E-Learning facilities                            …
• Internet information                             …
• Email                                                   …
• Video conferencing                             …

6. Are you involved in any joint activities or networking that involves learning processes? Please list.

Part III Learning to Face the Future

7. Are you a:

• Government body                               …
• Association                                         …
• Network                                                           …
• NGO                                                                …
• Educational Institute                                        …
• Other                                                               …

If applicable, how many members                              …

·         Please list all networks in which you participate.

8.  Which UN Major Group(s) do you belong to?

·         National or Regional government                       …

·         Women                                                               …

·         Children and Youth                                             …

·         Indigenous People                                              …

·         Non-governmental Organizations                       …

·         Local Authorities                                                 …

·         Workers and Trade Unions                                …

·         Business and Industry                                        …

·         Scientific and Technological Communities        …

·         Farmers                                                              …

·         other:                                                                   …

9.         What is your Sector of principle activity?

·         Agro-forestry                                                       …

·         Energy                                                                 …

·         Industry                                                               …

·         Tourism                                                               …

·         Transport                                                                        …

·         Education                                                            …

·         Other (please state)                                            …

 10.       What is your Primary WSSD (World Summit on Sustainable Development) Thematic?

·         Water and Sanitation                                          …

·         Energy                                                                 …

·         Health                                                                 …

·         Agro-forestry                                                       …

·         Biodiversity                                                          …

·        other:                                                                   …   

11.       Adaptation Strategies/ Sustainable Development Issues

·         Do you have a sustainable development strategy or a sustainable patterns of production and consumption strategy for your organisation?     Yes/No

·         If yes please give details (or a reference).

·         Does the Strategy have an implementation time table? Please state:

·         Is it linked to your country’s national sustainable development plan? Yes/No

·         Please list any certification or accreditation schemes you belong to, or to which any of your products /services are connected.

·         Do you operate a carbon offset policy?                          Yes/No

·         Do you operate a sustainable transport policy?             Yes/No

·         If you are an SME or Micro Enterprise interested both competitiveness and sustainability, what would help you to change to more sustainable patterns of production and consumption. Please comment briefly: 

12. Learning Experiences occur in a variety of settings, ‘Multiple marketplaces’ have been identified to demonstrate this below. What are your preferred market places for learning experiences?

Fixed Location Market Places

·         University                                                            …

·         School                                                     …       

·        College                                                    …

·         Office                                                      …

·         Cinema                                                   …

·         Home                                                      …

·         Outdoors                                                 …

·         Other                                                       …

Media Device Market Places

·         Paper-based Publishing                                     …

·         TV                                                            …

·         Audio-Video- Film                                    …

·         CD Rom/DVD/Computer                                    …

·         Internet                                                    …

·         Mobile Communicators                           …

·         Other                                                       …

14. Do you have a specific target group you wish to reach with your information? If so, please list:

Thank you for taking the time to fill this in.

Please fill in (as a word document) and send to:

Pal Hajas Contact: email: >>> click

DG Enterprise Learning Areas Handbook Project

ECOTRANS 2004

Az egészségturizmusról  elég sok kutatás született az elmúlt idõszakban, a hazai helyzetrõl pillanatnyilag a legjobb képet a KPMG Consulting által a Magyar Turizmus Rt. számára készített marketing koncepció adja (http://www.hungary.com/resources/piackut/belf/egtur_02v.pdf).  A Magyar Turizmus Rt. honlapján van egy adatbázis, amibõl kikereshetõek a gyógyfürdõk és az egyéb egészségturisztikai létesítmények (a jelenséget egyébként összefoglalóan lehet "spa tourism"-nak hívni angolul). RatzT