December 10, 2019
NTG Webinar Insights – Tourism & Education
In 2019, ATLAS organised 2 webinars commissioned by the NTG and the INCOME Tourism projects:READ MORE
December 4, 2019
Promoting Digital Skills in Mid Wales: Real Ceredigion Experiences
Cardiff Met is the Wales partner in the Next Tourism Generation (NTG) Alliance that promotes digital and sustainability skills training. This blog outlines the Real Ceredigion Experiences project that delivered digital workshops, highlighted the advantages of adopting technologies and published a Starter Guide to Improving Digital Sales that can be downloaded for free. Louise Dixey from Cardiff Met in collaboration with Val Hawkins of MWT Cymru highlight the policy context and project insights in this blog. This project reflects best practice that can be replicated in Wales and further afield.READ MORE
November 26, 2019
Dutch industry reflections on the case of Thomas Cook
With the collapse of Thomas Cook last month, travel agents and tour operators in Europe have gone through a turbulent few weeks. In Utrecht, the Netherlands, tour operators and travel agencies gathered together at the ‘What is cooking in travel’ meet-up on November 8th in order to learn from previous mistakes, see where new opportunities have arisen and how the importance of micro-moments for consumers has an impact on travel organizations and their customer journey. NTG was present at the meet-up and collected interesting insights on lessons learnt for the tour operators and travel agencies that are aiming to keep their heads above water in upcoming years.
November 19, 2019
The ultimate employee experience: provision of life-long learning
Currently, employers are facing challenges to retain their employees and keep them loyal to their company. Due to the gig economy, ‘a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed permanent jobs ’ (Oxford Dictionary), employees tend to switch jobs faster. This leaves employers desperately seeking new talent that will eventually leave soon as well. The Next Tourism Generation field research shows that low rates of staff retention is a major challenge because tourism and hospitality jobs are not attractive due to the poor image this labour market has.READ MORE
November 15, 2019
The Virtual Amusement Park
Smart destination. A buzzword used to describe the digitalisation of tourist destinations. Specifically, it deals with the connection of digital and real worlds of experience and infrastructure elements. But, what exactly is behind it and where can these “smart” destinations already be found today?READ MORE
October 28, 2019
Ultimate transformation: How will robots, artificial intelligence and service automation disrupt the tourism and hospitality industries?
At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, the GDSs (Global Distribution Systems), Internet, social media, websites and mobile applications, made the world smaller and changed the rules of the business and competition among travel, tourism and hospitality companies. Now the tourism industry is facing a new revolution, one more powerful, transformative and with longer-term implications than the previous changes. Tourism is entering the robotics era. Stanislav Ivanov from NTG key partner Varna University of Management, wrote an interesting blog on this matter.READ MORE
October 15, 2019
Challenge your digital self-learning skills: become a visual designer
Digital self-learning skills are very important in different tourism sub-sectors and go hand in hand with the different skill sets that the Next Tourism Generation (NTG) Alliance focuses on. Based on the NTG interview research outcomes, self-learning is ‘a must’ when it comes to being employed in the tourism industry. READ MORE
October 1, 2019
Federturismo and UnionCamere launch the first Italian tourism skills forum
What are the real needs of the tourism industry in Italy, in terms of digital skills as well as green and social skills to promote sustainability? What are the key initiatives and investments that support skills innovation? Which European funds are available for this industry? The first tourism skills forum took stock of the situation and was launched by NTG Alliance key partners Federturismo Confindustria and UnionCamere during a meeting held on 6 June at Unioncamere, the Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture.READ MORE
September 16, 2019
World Travel Café – Insights from Dutch Tour Operators and Travel Agencies on Digital Skills
Breda University of Applied Sciences, one of the key partners in the Next Tourism Generation (NTG) Alliance, organized a World Travel Café Session on digital, green and social skills with Dutch tour operators and travel agencies during a Travel Challenge Conference for students in Turkey. The theme discussed during this meeting between educational institutions and tourism businesses is the focus of the NTG project: the digital, green and social skills needed in the future for sustainable tourism development. In other words, what will the future of digital, green and social skills look like within various organizational structures and at different job levels? This blog highlights the key insights from the discussion focusing on digital skills.READ MORE
September 6, 2019
Popping up in F&B: virtual restaurants that rely on digital customers
One of the most important changes happening in the food and beverage industry has to do with the new habits and interests of customers. This change is that the demand for food delivered at home is growing tremendously. Due to new developments in digital technologies, restaurants are able to sell their dishes online that are delivered to home addresses. Nowadays, people just have to walk around Madrid (or other capital cities) at lunchtime or dinner to observe that a significant percentage of the vehicles that circulate are motorcycles and cars of food delivery companies. Delivery drivers are an innovative type of waiter of the new generation. The Next Tourism Generation Alliance also focuses on how to optimize the implementation of digital tools in the hospitality sector. This blog, written by NTG key partner Alicante University focuses on the developments of digital tools in the hospitality industry in Spain, based on the NTG Interviews.