Realization of workshops on: "The utilization of the institution of Apprenticeship and Internship in the Tourism Sector"in the framework of the "NETOURAL" project

The first day of the workshops on: "The utilization of the institution of Apprenticeship and Internship in the Tourism Sector" was successfully held yesterday, Wednesday, November 29 at the headquarters of Epimorfotiki Kilkis, at Kilkis from 18:00 to 20:00.

Today, Thursday November 30, the second day of workshops will take place, at the same time and in the same venue.

The workshops are organized by Hellenic Hoteliers Federation as part of the implementation of the project "Promoting alternative tourism in the cross-border area focused on wellness and wellbeing activities, along with the promotion of quality agricultural products and foodstuff, to create employment opportunities" (NETOURAL).

The coordination of the workshops and the analysis of the individual topics was undertaken by Mr. Panagiotis Georgiadis, who is a travel writer and technical consultant on accessibility issues.

The workshops focus on the importance of apprenticeships and internships for the acquisition of experiential knowledge from human resources working in relevant businesses in order to achieve increasing employability in the tourism sector. In particular, the individual thematic modules of the Workshops were the following:

✏️ Use of Apprenticeships in the Tourism Sector

✏️ Presentation of benefits and challenges

✏️ Internship as a Tool for Training and Employability

✏️ Practical experience and lessons learned from internships

✏️ Discussion on Employment Opportunities in the Tourism Sector

✏️ Open discussion and advice on empowered career guidance.

✏️ Application Workshop: Creating an Apprenticeship/Internship Plan

✏️ Participation in a group activity to design apprenticeship programmes

During the first day of the implementation of the workshops, a discussion was held between the attendees, where concerns and questions were raised regarding the use of apprenticeships and internships in the tourism sector, the skills required to adapt to the new data emerging in the tourism sector, in the context of its continuous development, employment opportunities and practices for the formulation of integrated apprenticeship programs, in order to increase the employability of people with low and medium skills in the tourism sector and strengthening their qualifications.

It is noted that the objective of NETOURAL project was to create a cross-border network linking private and public actors from both countries to implement an innovative model for the design, management and promotion of market-driven, market-oriented thematic tourism products focused on wellness and well-being activities, alongside the promotion of quality agricultural products and food produced in the cross-border area.

The main beneficiary of the project was the Development Agency of Kilkis S.A, while the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (HHF), the Municipality of Konče and Association Tourist Union Strumica also participated in the partnership.

NETOURAL project was implemented in the framework of the Cross-Border Program "INTERREG IPA CBC GREECE - REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA 2014 - 2020" in the context of Priority Axis 1 "Support and Development of the Local Economy", Special Objective 1.3 “Improve the attractiveness and promote tourism in the cross-border area to enhance employment in tourism”.