Why National Regional Skills Partnerships?

Starting in 2020, the Next Tourism Generation Alliance actively supported the European Commission in the implementation of the Pact for Skills in Tourism (PfST). In order to reach out more quickly and involve more effectively the main stakeholders in such a large and fragmented industry, the rationale behind the PfST was to capitalize on the work already done by the Sector Skills Alliance implemented through the NTG project. The networks established under the NTG project with the NRSPs (National/Regional Skills Partnerships) can assure continuity in the PfST implementation also in the coming years through the PANTOUR project (in charge of dealing with Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills for the next 4 years and involving 8 partners from the previous NTG consortium).

The PANTOUR project will recover and exploit the methodologies and tools developed by the NTG Alliance, building on the results achieved by the previous project, and continuing to rely on the NTG Collaborative Framework. Essentially the NRSP aims to improve relations and partnership between industry and education stakeholders to ensure that clear digital, green and social skill sets are adopted within industry and education. The NRSP will provide a key mechanism for delivery of the key benefits and outcomes arising from the project including opportunities for piloting outputs, access to primary research participants, collaboration and business partnerships arrangements arising from the project in relation to the stakeholders.

The current purpose and mission of the National/Regional Tourism Skills Partnership (NRSP) are:

To bring together key stakeholders in education, training, government and industry with a collaborative approach, useful for integrating and harmonising knowledge and resources from different fields of endeavour. According to where they are located, their knowledge, expertise, interests in skills development and their associated needs and knowledge gaps in skills delivery and expectations shall feed into the work and results of the PANTOUR project, which aims to bring together key people who want to be involved in the development of integrating digital, green and social skills as core knowledge skill sets within the tourism and hospitality industry. The role of PANTOUR is to promote discussion and collaboration between key stakeholders in education and industry, to develop critical content and skills delivery methods that are innovative, effective and fit for purpose to address the main gaps detected in digital, green and social skills.

Benefits and Value of participation in a NRSP

Benefits and value that members of the NRSPs can expect from their participation and collaboration:
● Playing an active role in a ground-breaking project (PANTOUR) until it ends
● Contributing to the elaboration and validation of projects results
● Using and improving the Skills Lab and all the other project outputs
● Improve the qualification of the workforce with skills actually needed
● Tourism services get more competitive and resilient
● Quality of jobs – higher motivation of work teams and less fluctuation of staff
● Quick detection of new skills requirements in tourism
● Immediate availability of training before gaps create problems
● Direct participation in education and implementation policies
● Tailor-made training programmes that fit your local and regional needs
● Advocacy for training and skills development
● Flagging needs to key stakeholders including governments
● Direct involvement in policy making regarding the strengthening of the human capital employed in the tourism industry
● Direct link to the European Commission’s “Pact for Skills” initiative
● Visibility and opportunity to build relationships with other key stakeholders in the tourism industry
● Participating in valuable networks at regional, national and European level
● Sharing knowledge
● Bridging with national/regional challenges and practises
● Access for the industry to students and trainees for projects and/or placement opportunities
● Access to information about apprenticeship opportunities
● Access to funding opportunities for further projects

Composition of the NRSP

The NRSP is composed of representatives across all sectors of the tourism ecosystem. Each NRSP includes the following stakeholder groups:

Education: University/FE college/Training Provider representatives
Government: Education/Skills/Training Policy makers in Tourism Education; National, regional and local tourism authorities; Employment agencies; Chambers of commerce
Industry: Trade Associations/Organizations/Businesses in Accommodation, F&B, Tour Operators & Travel Agencies, Visitor Attractions, Destination Management, HR departments.

While there is no exact requirement regarding numbers, different sizes tourism businesses are represented. This refers especially to the micro- and nano-services
with less than 10 and 4 employees, respectively, that make up for over 90% of tourism services in Europe but they are often under-represented if not completely unrepresented.

Active Tourism Skills Partnerships and get involved

See which NRSP is closest to you: