A. CONTEXT

The Italian accommodation system is leader in Europe for quality and dimension. Tourism sector has always been and still it is a solid engine for the economic recovery of European Union. Therefore, it is important, in this period of crisis, to invest in the education and training of young people who want to grow professionally in tourism sector. In order to increase sector competitiveness, is it essential to ensure a better correspondence between demand and offer of competences in labour market.

B. OBJECTIVES

70 young Italians will qualify their competences with a 2 months training in a sector enterprise in Germany, Greece, Malta, Portugal, United Kingdom, Spain.

The project will:

• transfer participants knowledge for working in the sectors: tourism, hotel and restaurant industry;
• fulfil participants gap between hands-on training and future professional/university experience, by offering knowledge, experiential and language tools for continuing a career or university studies;
• offer participants the chance to be more competitiveness in the labour market, increasing: technical competences, experiential and soft skills;
• improve participants’ knowledge of foreign languages.

C. NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS

Italian students (age 18/21) enrolled in tourism VET (EQF Level 2, basic knowledge of the sector) or newly graduated (less than 1 year) (EQF Level 3), residents in Abruzzo, Puglia and Toscana. Study sections: accommodation service (tourist hosting and booking), restaurant services (enogastronomy and restaurant service), tourism professionals (commercial services).

D. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES

Activities are divided into 3 Macro-phases:

1. Mobilities preparation:
2. Mobilities implementation:
3. Cross-sectional activities:

E. METHODOLOGY

Mercury will coordinate the project. The work plan in the company will be organized according to procedure ECVET. At the end of the two month internship host companies will evaluate the results achieved through examination, which will follow a final evaluation. After receiving the report, students will receive a Certificate Europass Mobility by the National Erasmus +.

F. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF RESULTS

Leaning outcomes will be expressed in terms of knowledge, skills and competences. 70 students, who have carried out at leat 80% of training and have succeeded the final exam, will receive the Europass Mobility Certificate, where LOs will be validated.

G. IMPACT

The project will involve:

• 7 tourism VETs in 3 Italian regions (Abruzzo, Puglia, Toscana);
• 70 students and/or newly graduated (less than 1 year);
• 13 transnational partners in 6 European countries (DE, EL, MT, PT, UK, ES);
• disadvantaged students participation will be enhanced (1 person per VET)

H. LONG TERM BENEFITS

Expected project impact will be: local, regional, national and European:

• young people employability in tourism sector will be enhanced;
• Italian and European tourism service, quality and competitiveness will be enhanced, thanks to the creation of European and national networks.

Dissemination plan will enlarge project impact, improving its sustainability and highlighting European added value. It will be coordinated by the partner OpenCom: non profit organisation, specialised in social communication.