'YES' tourism employability project has been launched

The two-year 'YES Employability - Young Europeans, Skills for Employability in Tourism' project, aimed at promoting transparency and recognition of competencies and qualifications across Europe in tourism, was launched a few days ago.

The project is financed by the EU as part of the Leonardo da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme.

The leading partner is the Institute of Tourism Studies, which hosted the launch event and the first steering committee meeting. The project was launched by Education and Employment Minister Dolores Cristina and newly appointed ITS chairman Claire Zammit Xuereb.

The project proposes to address the need of the tourism education and vocational training sector for a workable system of validation, transfer and recognition, of skills and competencies.

It seeks to establish frameworks so that skills achieved in formal and informal circumstances can be linked to national and European frameworks presently in use.

The YES project includes eight organisations and institutions from central European and Mediterranean countries with ITS as the lead partner. They include the Centre for Advanced Studies in Tourism of Italy, ARTES srl, a research firm from Italy, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Portuguese Association of Hotel Directors, Portuguese retail firm Sofati, the Technical Institute of Larnaca, and the Cyprus Chefs Association.