Inovácia profesijnej prípravy budúcich odborníkov cestovného ruchu využitím fiktívneho cvičného hotela

The plan to create so-called fictitious hotels as training sites for tourism students was conceived at the time of the pandemic and related restrictions. At that time, it was not possible for students to practice in hotel establishments and therefore alternative solutions had to be found. An idea that later developed into the present project, where special training sites were created in cooperation with tourism students, seemed to be an adequate solution. The aim was not only the creation of the training sites, but the whole process of creation, during which the students could acquire the necessary skills to work in the hotel industry as well as in other areas of tourism.

By implementing the project we wanted to: - to enable tourism students to complete an alternative form of professional practice - to develop students' professional and transversal competences - to create special training workplaces that can be implemented in education and that can be further developed - to create a network of EU higher education institutions cooperating in the project and beyond - to bring tourism professional practice closer to academia - introduce the themes of inclusion and diversity, sustainable development and new digital technologies (including intercultural online marketing) into education

The project planned 5 deliverables to be created - they were created in the specified quantity and quality. The outputs were: ID1 Intercultural digital campaign ID2 Cultural Diversity Map ID3 Practice Hotel ID4 Adaptation and implementation of HIS ID5 Enviro-strategy Within the framework of the individual outputs, various studies, educational materials, manuals and websites have been developed through the joint cooperation of the partner institutions throughout the project period. During the project period, business plans of the emerging fictitious hotels were created, an online map of cultural diversity was created, hotel information systems were analysed and a manual on the use of hotel information systems for specific tasks at the reception desk was created, an environmental strategy for the hotels was created, and a digital marketing campaign for the hotels on social media (Facebook) was also created. In addition to the above, the project website itself and various publications were created.