Introducing PANTOUR with AnaMaria Camps – project leader CEHAT

How does PANTOUR – the Pact for Next Tourism Generation Skills work exactly?

 

‘The intention of this call is to implement the Blueprint Strategy. Through PANTOUR we aim to boost innovation and training in skills all over Europe. The main objective of PANTOUR is to fill the gap between skills needs and existing education and training in tourism sector. Skills are the key to a better performance of tasks and operations related to every job position. The different addition of the same skills may result on a different job position. We will also establish National Skills Groups which will be integrated by three different stakeholders. Tourism entrepreneurs will give their vision about products, tasks and procedures which will need new skills for professionals; training and education entities will hear and provide that specific curricula and the public sector will promote the necessary environment.’

Which sectors, skills and key deliverables are addressed within PANTOUR?

‘For the industry, it is important to have real knowledge of emerging jobs and skills needed. PANTOUR will deliver a methodology for updating skills needs in the tourism sector. The PANTOUR hub will be the only platform in the European ecosystem that will integrate job positions, skills and training for the five subsectors: accommodation, food and beverage, destination management organisations, visitor attractions and travel agencies & tour operators. Besides this, education and training providers will obtain curricula and teacher handbooks for these skills. A national skills group will be set up in every partner’s country, with the mission of promoting discussion among different stakeholders; the industry, the public bodies and the education and training providers to ensure appropriate skills performance.’

 

How does PANTOUR build on the Next Tourism Generation project outcomes and how is PANTOUR aligned with activities from the EU Pact for Skills in tourism?

‘In june 2022, the Tourism Blueprint Strategy was delivered to the European Commission by the Next Tourism Generation Alliance (NTG). It was the result of more than four years of work and research about skills and training in the tourism sector in Europe. This strategy stated how to promote skills development in order to achieve better tasks development in any job position. As it was discovered, the same skills are used for different tasks and allow professionals to develop different job positions. This way, professionals must be trained on skills while they will be taught in operational tasks in their positions. From this point, a new project was submitted to an ERASMUS+ call, “Pact for Next Tourism Generation Skills – PANTOUR”.

In January 2022  the Pact for Skills on Tourism was established. NTG partners have been signatories from the beginning. Since the PANTOUR conformation, it has given support as secretariat. The Skills online platform demanded by PFST will be provided by PANTOUR. PANTOUR and PFST share its main objective: promoting debate on competences and reskilling of the workforce.’

 

What is the current project stage of PANTOUR and what can be expected in the upcoming months?

‘This project has a dedicated focus on research. Research on the current state of the industry after the effects of COVID and technical innovations is being done in order to establish the set of green, digital and social skills of the updated job positions. Secondary research is being undertaken while primary data collection will take part at the beginning of 2023.’

 

How can other stakeholders get involved in the project?

‘Industry stakeholders will play a relevant role in the definition of job positions and skills needs. I encourage entrepreneurs and professionals to get in touch with their respective national skills group in order to participate in this data collection. In addition to this, on the 9th of February we will be hosting and webinar in which we will share the first results. Save the date and we will share more soon.’

 

About AnaMaria Camps
Ana María Camps has focused her entire professional career on the world of tourist accommodation. Her studies in economics, specialising in international economics and economic development, allowed her to open up a path to understanding the economic implications of the tourism sector. The direct and indirect effects of the sector are analysed in order to improve the return on investment and the distribution of wealth. Afterwards, the Diploma in European Studies, taken at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), enabled her to learn about the functioning of the European Union, its decision-making bodies, its policies and its cooperation strategies.

Her entire professional career has been aimed at helping tourism entrepreneurs. To date, at CEHAT, she has worked on the analysis of tourism indicator data, the design of training programmes, the leadership of European projects for the analysis of competencies for the tourism sector and the preparation and implementation of the Professional Hospitality Card.

Her interest in working to improve people’s wellbeing is reflected in her collaborations with different universities and institutions, such as the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid and the European University of Madrid, as well as having participated in different debates in forums such as the Spanish Hoteliers’ Congress, the Tourism Quality Congress and FiturTech.