The European Tourism Forum invited PANTOUR on stage to discuss the future of work and skills

Ongoing skills initiative to tackle staff shortages was the topic of the panel discussion last week, held in Budapest, Hungary, during the European Tourism Forum. The highest-level tourism trade event was held in collaboration with the Hungarian Council Presidency of the council of the European Union. PANTOUR colleagues Corné Dijkmans from Breda University of Applied Sciences and Klaus Ehrlich from Ruraltour attended the panel discussion to share insights.

The panel was organised to discuss ongoing skills initiative to tackle staff shortages:
Moderator: Noémi Rázga-Ilyés, Hungarian Tourism Association Foundation
a. Sofia Råsmar, Director EU Affairs, Visita, Sweden
b. Marie Audren – Director General HOTREC
c. Virginie Demoucron – EFFAT
d. Corné Dijkmans, Director of Research and Business Innovation at Breda
University
e. Klaus Ehrlich, Secretary General of Ruraltour

Marie-Hélène Pradines, head of unit at the European Commission, emphasised that the conference had been a success, highlighting the significance of addressing Europe’s tourism labor shortage. She noted that the initiative could help sustain tourism’s vital economic contribution while promoting a vision of sustainable, digital, and people-centric tourism in Europe. Eduardo Santander, head of the European Travel Commission, praised the event as an “outstanding” milestone for the tourism sector in 2024, despite ongoing geopolitical challenges.