Malta has developed an online database of competencies in the hospitality industry as part of a European project led by the Institute of Tourism Studies and with the participation of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.
Called TEEMPASS (Tourism Education Employability Mobility), the database was officially launched at the concluding conference of the YES Employability Project held recently in Larnaca, Cyprus. Hosted in Malta, it is accessible at www.teempass.eu.
ITS is the leading partner of the two-year project which saw the participation of eight partners, including two each from Cyprus, Italy and Portugal. It was financed by the European Union as part of the Leonardo da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme and the outcomes were targeted especially at young workers and educational and training institutions in the tourism industry.
“We are constantly bombarded with announcements about initiatives to create a single market in the European Union and the benefits of freedom of movement across the EU. We felt that there was something missing in the tourism industry in terms of job mobility between member states. For this reason we embarked on the YES Employability Project to make it easier for workers and professionals in this vital industry to be able to work in different member states without unnecessary hurdles,” Raymond J. Vassallo, the project co-ordinator at ITS, told i-Tech.
To achieve this objective the project created an online database of competencies in the tourism and hospitality industry called TEEMPASS. This tool will eventually lead to the creation of a specific Europass CV that will facilitate the mobility of workers in Europe in this particular industry.
Right now the database is available both online and as a standalone CD, produced with the technical support of Mosta-based IT services company Seasus Ltd. It is available in Maltese, English, Italian, Portuguese and Greek. Each language provides information about career paths and skills needed for specific jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry. The Maltese and English version are based on courses available at ITS while the other languages are based on vocational training in Cyprus, Italy and Portugal.
A package containing guidelines, tools and resources for the proper use of the TEEMPASS software by teachers and trainers and how to integrate it within their own institution’s educational and training programmes is also being developed. This is considered as crucial to ensure the success of the project.
“It is no secret that many a good European project is shelved the moment it ends and the outcomes are not enjoyed by society at large. Conscious of this shortcoming, the partners of the YES Projects have agreed to sustain TEEMPASS and keep it alive through the creation of the Tourism Educators Network (TEN), a non-profit initiative across Europe. It is hoped that TEN not only maintains TEEMPASS but also takes new initiatives in the field of education and training in tourism and hospitality,” added Mr Vassallo.
Indeed the memorandum of understanding leading to the creation of the Tourism Educators Network was signed in Larnaca on the occasion of the concluding conference of the YES Employability Project. The signatories of the MoU are the partners of the project, namely the Institute of Tourism Studies as the lead partner, the Centre for Advanced Studies in Tourism (Italy), the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, ARTES srl (a research firm from Italy), the Portuguese Association of Hotel Directors and INSESP/ SOFATI (Portugal), the Technical Institute of Larnaca and the Cyprus Chefs Association.
TEN chapters are being formed in the YES Employability project partner countries as well as other European countries such as Germany, The Netherlands and Ireland. TEN-MT, the Malta Chapter, is playing a leading role in the launch and support of these chapters.
Other industry sectors such as the construction industry have requested permission to use the TEEMPASS model to develop their own system.
The research done during the YES Employability Project has been gathered into a publication called “Tourism Education, Employability and Mobility in four Mediterranean Countries”. Edited by Mr Vassallo, the book was officially launched at a meeting of the HR Forum hosted by MHRA last week.
The book contains, among other research items, the results of a study that investigated Maltese secondary school students’ perceptions and attitudes towards hospitality and tourism professions. The survey is based on a sample size of 214 respondents in five different state schools, in various regions of the Maltese islands.
Findings show that hospitality professions enjoy a neutral to positive image among students. Students believe the work load is heavier than in other professions and that working hours are more irregular but also feel that it is exciting work with a lot of socialising opportunities.
The most popular professions are the chef, night club/hotel/restaurant manager and the bartender. These professions also enjoy the highest familiarity among students. Students with parents working in the industry are generally more interested in pursuing a career in hospitality or tourism.
The study also exposed how students’ awareness of hospitality professions and their job contents is quite low.
They choose their preferences based on the fun aspects instead of job content aspects because they often simply not know what the job entails. Students are bit less familiar with the content of management professions, yet those professions enjoy highest popularity. Students obtain information about the hospitality sector mainly from TV, other media and their family.
However when the TEEMPASS online database was tested, students were very receptive and the great majority said that such a tool will definitely help them in their efforts to get the right education and training in this industry, and eventually land the job they wish.
A copy of the book is available for download at www.ten-mt.org.