Enhancing Skills for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Tourism

As part of the shift towards nature conservation, many tourist destinations and visitors became increasingly aware of tourism’s impact on the environment. Strengthened environmental awareness led ...

The overall goal of the project was to enhance green skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes among working-age adults and students in tourism, supporting sustainable social, economic, and environmental outcomes. The ESSEFT project aimed to address the green skills mismatch among tourism and hospitality employees, particularly in the hotel sector, and to facilitate job transitions. Students in tourism were also targeted to improve their green skills for better school-to-work transitions. These goals were pursued through several objectives: (1) researching green skills mismatches in the tourism labor market; (2) engaging professionals from profit organizations to share expertise with both employees and students; (3) integrating university teaching tools to foster innovation in vocational education; (4) developing digitally available curricula and a learning platform focused on labor market needs; (5) producing digital learning materials with zero paper usage; (6) delivering short-cycle sustainable tourism courses with certification; and (7) making policy recommendations based on project findings.

The project objectives were achieved through various activities. The context and status of green skills mismatches among working-age adults and students were analyzed at both national and international levels. Efforts were made to include long-term unemployed individuals, offering them opportunities to enhance employability. Consumer preferences were examined, focusing on travelers who opted for eco-friendly hotels. Training programs were developed with input from industry professionals to equip participants with essential green competencies. Learning curricula were tailored to meet labor market demands in sustainable hotel practices. An online platform was created to facilitate training, combining digital courses with limited in-person sessions. Participants who completed the program received certificates, and student feedback was gathered to refine vocational education curricula. Finally, policy recommendations were formulated to integrate green skills and sustainability competencies into vocational education and training (VET) programs, ensuring long-term improvements in the tourism sector.

The project delivered four key intellectual outputs as a result of its activities. First, a report was compiled analyzing the green skills mismatch in the tourism and hospitality labor market. Second, a handbook titled *Green Skills and Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Tourism* was created, along with a tailored ESSEFT short-cycle learning course curriculum. This curriculum included six sequential training modules covering various green practices within the hotel industry. Third, an online learning platform was developed to support remote training and resource accessibility. Lastly, the project implemented the ESSEFT short-cycle learning courses and formulated policy recommendations to enhance sustainability-focused education and workforce development in the tourism sector.