“TOUR FR(I)END- Friendly Redesign of Inclusive Experiences N’ Destinations for Deaf people” (TOUR FR(I)END) project aims to empower Deaf and hearing impaired people’ Inclusion and Development of Career opportunities of young people by Cultivating the Use of International Sign language in the field of tourism through a phygital toolkit and a serious game. The 2019 OESC report provides strong evidence that young people (15-24) in Europe are struggling to find work (15% of them are unemployed). On the other hand tourism is accounted in 2018 for 12.7 million persons employed. One of the most significant attempt in tourism is to create products and services that are accessible. However very few efforts have be done in terms of accessibility of Deaf people. The Statista (2015) estimated that 119 million people in the whole of Europe were deaf or hard of hearing. As “Tourism activities of Deaf people” (2013) research reveal the greater barrier Deaf people meet, is No Sign language provision. The vast majority of Deaf people suggest having the possibility to talk in sign language during a trip will enhance their accessibility and choice of destination. BLS predicts a 29% increase of interpreters of Sign language by 2024. TOUR FR(I)END proposes an innovative methodology through a phygital toolkit and a serious game, for developing both deaf and hearing young people skills competences and employability, as well as enhancing the accessibility in Tourism. More specifically the outputs of the project involve: O1- Methodological guide of TOUR FR(I)END project O2- Learning training guide for basic skills of people working in touristic industry (especially in terms of language, dialogs etc) O3- Learning training guide for learning basic sign language phrases using them in the field of tourism (hotels, airports, booking companies, tourist offices etc) O4- Learning training guide for trainers focusing on touristic industry basics, international sign language and use of created game-tool O5- TOUR FR(I)END phygital Serious Game OBJECTIVES of “TOUR FR(I)END” project: -To promote social inclusion of Deaf people and accessible tourism -To support deaf and hearing young people (18-24) in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences in the field of accessible tourism -To create an innovative phygital toolkit and serious game promoting open education and innovative practices in a digital era -To strengthen youth trainers, coachers, career advisors and relevant professionals skills -To create an innovative and efficient toolkit that youth trainers and relevant professionals can implement to their work TARGET GROUPS of the project are: -youth organisations, training centres, social innovation centres, organisations that deal with gamification processes (employees/ researchers/ youth trainers/ youth workers/ other professionals), institutions dealing with inclusive and accessible tourism/ disadvantaged groups/ deaf or hard of hearing people/ entrepreneurship education) -organisations that fall in the travel and tourism industries, namely the total of all businesses that directly provide goods or services to facilitate business, pleasure and leisure activities away from the home environment (tourism executives, hotel staff, travel agents, tour guides, HR managers) -deaf associations and sign language schools (deaf or hard of hearing people). The project meets a transnational need for innovation in the field of assesible tourism for Deaf people through a phygital toolkit and serious game. The partners Les Apprimeurs (France), CiP (Cyprus), Challedu (Greece), Enjoy Italy (Italy), SCS LogoPsyCom (Belgium), comes from different backgrounds and are capable to create a holistic approach. The materials and method that will be developed through the project, will be of global interest and will have the ability to be applied in different environments.
We want to promote the social inclusion of young people, deaf and hearing, in the job market by accompanying them in the acquisition of key professional skills for accessible tourism. We have developed a series of innovative digital teaching aids: -> a phygital serious game and digital learning manuals aiming at developing skills concerning the reception and inclusion of deaf tourists in order to foster the employability of deaf and hearing youth and to offer them new professional opportunities. -> A digital implementation guide for educators and trainers, in connection with deaf and hearing youth, to facilitate the transmission of skills related to accessible tourism, sign language and deaf culture. By training these future professionals, we hope to contribute to the evolution of the tourist offer.
The Tour Friend project wished to put in coherence the difficulty of young Europeans (15-24 years old) to find a job (more than 15% of them are unemployed according to the 2019 EESC report), the dynamism of the tourism sector, which counts in 2018 more than 12.7 million people employed in Europe, and a tourism offer accessible to the deaf people very weak or even inexistent. The report "Tourism activities of Deaf people" (2013) reveals that the greatest barrier encountered by deaf people is the absence of sign language in the vast majority of places of welcome. We therefore saw a double opportunity: to promote the inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing people in the tourism sector, by raising awareness of national and international sign languages among young professionals in order to improve the conditions of reception and visit, and by raising awareness among deaf young people of the employment opportunities that the tourism sector offers.