The Next Tourism Generation project (NTG), with the establishment of the first European Blueprint Sector Skills Alliance for the tourism sector, will identify skills for managing over tourism and will be included in the destination management skills matrix. READ MORE
Changing travel patterns require various tourism industry sub-sectors to adapt to the wide-ranging needs of customers. With the increase in leisure time, most people travel several times a year. Next to that, new destinations are being introduced; cheap flights are offered by multiple airlines, while the consumer decision-making process becomes even shorter. A Next Tourism Generation Alliance key partner, the University of Sopron, looks into ‘new platform services’ (UNWTO, 2017) and how digitalisation is bringing radical changes to tourism and hospitality. The blog explores a cutting edge robot café and an innovative smartphone-controlled hotel in Budapest, Hungary. READ MORE
Another year has flown by and with the holidays approaching very soon, the Next Tourism Generation Alliance had a look at the most-read blog articles on the website. With the main focus on digital, social and green skills in five different sub-sectors in tourism and hospitality, many case studies, events and expert interviews were highlighted in the blog section. In the coming year, many more hot topics will be discussed on the website and shared on our social media channels.
Before we head off to 2020, let’s have a look at the top ten tourism topics of 2019. Enjoy!READ MORE
Digital skills play an increasingly prominent role in the tourism sector in Europe, yet skills gaps and a slow uptake of technologies persist. These issues are evident in research by the Next Tourism Generation (NTG) project but also in data analysed for the Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce, from the PID Network on Digitalization. This blog by UnionCamere summarises PID findings on the level of digital maturity amongst Italian tourism enterprises and demonstrates that there is still a long way to go.
On October 10, the third edition of eDay Next Gen took place in Amsterdam. Young talents and future pros in digital and technology followed interesting sessions focused on digital and green innovations in multiple industries. The NTG Alliance attended the event to see what skills are necessary for the next generation for work and to futureproof the tourism industry. The most interesting insights related to digital skills are shared in this blog.READ MORE
In 2019, ATLAS organised 2 webinars commissioned by the NTG and the INCOME Tourism projects:READ MORE
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
Bed & Breakfast, farm accommodation and holiday rentals have existed for many years, but over the past 10 years, online Platforms like AirBnB or HomeAway have generated visibility and ever-increasing numbers of such services that are very successful in the tourism market. The Next Tourism Generation (NTG) key partner, Eurogites, delves into this topic highlighting success factors, skills gaps and the need for a different approach to recognised training provision.READ MORE
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.
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