The University’s Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture is involved in an EU-funded project entitled Socialising Tourism that is focusing on promoting access to tourism for all and differentiating the local tourism product to attract new kinds of tourists.

Its activities include developing a training model involving both lectures and job shadowing, creating a package of personalised services for tourists with new needs, and developing a certification system in line with EU regulations to attest these new professional skills.

The project, part-funded under the Leonardo programme, is led by Cefal, a vocational training body in Bologna, Italy. The University institute is the project’s academic partner, and is drafting the document to be used as the scientific foundation for the project activities.

Other partners are the Observatorio de Economia Solidaria in Spain and the Lower Silesia Tourism Organisation in Poland.

The project partners recently held their first study visit in Barcelona, Spain. During the visit, the Generalitat de Catalunya Family Secretary gave a presentation on the Vacances en Familia project, which enables low-income families to experience tourism in Catalonia.

The programme also included visits to the Can Cruells Hotel and the Can Guetes visitors centre in the village of Ripoll in the Pyrenees region, which are managed by Fundaciò MAP and employ disabled people to promote social inclusion.

Marie Avellino and Davide Corazzini represented the University institute during the visit. The next study visit will be held in May in Malta.

For more information e-mail marie.avellino@um.edu.mt or davide.corazzini@um.edu.mt.