Activating the potentials in tourism industry could become a boosting energy for each of the project participants' national economies. In order to successfully respond to the industry's demand the HEI must follow latest demands of the clients and the effect they create to the enterprises that operate in this sector. This is due to the role the HEI have in the society i.e. building competences for the students that will become future employees in the various branches. Understanding that the "new wave" of students are dependent on use of IT tools, the HEI partners in this project are joining efforts in creation common ground in providing new approach in knowledge transfer process, replacing traditional "lecturing" system with digital knowledge platforms which encourage students' creativity. This approach will encourage professors from other HEI in the region as well, to modify their teaching approach by accessing and using platform's characteristics and capacities. Finally, this project will assist professionals in the sector to attract clients as they will have free access to the platform's content (national meals, energy value). Having this possibility it will be up to their creativity to establish business relations and promote Regional tours (regional tourism), thus increasing the number of tourists in the region and extending tourist season.
It was recognized by the partners in this project that the education process in their organizations needed to be upgraded, in a meaning to offer to the new generation of students a new approach in knowledge transfer process. Many surveys had proven that the students (and the employers) are demanding skillful labor when entering their enterprises, instead of an individual who knows how it should be done but does not have the skills to do it. In that manner, at the beginning the project was aiming to provide the following objectives: - Create user friendly IT based tools for knowledge transfer in two disciplines: o Nutrition o Management of accommodation facility - Connect professors and employers while establishing the elements that would become part of the future IT learning tool - Train students to perform research in order to create promotional tools for the tourist offer while developing new learning tool Four HEI took place in implementing this project: - University Goce Delchev in Shtip, Republic of Macedonia acting as Beneficiary - Prof Dr Asen Zlatarov University from Burgas, Bulgaria, - Veleuciliste u Sibeniku, Croatia and - Alexandreio Technologiko Ekpaideitiko Idryma Thessalonikis from Greece as partners in this project. As far as outputs development is concerned, for the forst output research and selection of recipes that are part of the electronic edition were completed on time and after 4 sets of workshops on which numerous testings were taking part, the Electronic calculator now is operational and is used by the professors, students and any other interested party. Since the first output was divided in two subsections, the second one was to search for traditional meals within the countries of the region, to publish a National Menu booklet and to the train professors from the HEI in preparing these meals, thus building up capacity in foreign countries and enriching knowledge to the students in the countries abroad. On the each of the workshops, which were taking place at each of the participating country, participants were exposed in practical training, the best in transferring knowledge. The hosting institution was in charge of preparing the training, on which the participants were preparing meals of the hosting country. The second output, although similar, had a bit different approach. It was performed in a form of a Blended course of Distant learning method. As in the previous output, during workshops the participants were testing what’s been done in time between two workshops and agree on what needs to be done in the next period of time. The software is already in use by the professors and students from all the institutions and as by several users from the rest of the world. During implementation phase, UGD staff had organized a promotion activity for other HEI and high-schools. All of them participated in the testing period expressing their feelings. Their level of satisfaction is expressed by receiving Letter of support for the job done and a request to continue developing similar tools which make knowledge transfer process much easier.