The project was inspired with two situations from recent months. Covid19 pandemic has set long-term challenges for universities and requires solutions at the level of creating digital solutions. At the moment almost all Universities around the Europe they try to fulfill their educational goals by distance-learning or hybrid system. So far this solutions was not implemented for practical parts. The pandemic prevented the implementation of student internship what is a part of the curriculum. Most of hotels, gastronomic points were closed, and having an internships in such a places is risky or even in some countries forbidden because of temporary regulations. As a result, students studying in tourism and gastronomic areas have a limited opportunity to get practical skills. Air traffic, which is cancelled in many directions, in many cases also makes it impossible to practice abroad. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that due to the pandemic in 2020 there is a decrease in tourist travel by approx. 60 - 80%. HORECA in the face of recovery from the crisis will need well-educated and skilled workers, prepared for the changing reality and additional restrictions, which can stay with us for longer. In the project, partners from Poland (leader), Italy, Sweden, Ireland will develop a methodological guide FOR STUDENT SUPERVISORS FOR ONLINE INTERNSHIPS IN THE HORECA. Online internships method will also concentrate on social, interpersonal, organization and conceptual competences which also because of lockdown are becoming a growing problem in the economy. A 14-DAY PATH WILL BE CREATED FOR STUDENT PRACTICE IN 3 VERSIONS. There will be three model places for online student internships based on scenarios, case studies and educational materials. Taking into account the University's experience and the national specificity, each model will represent a different tourist destination: - Sweden: cultural tourism and eco-tourism -Italy: mass tourism, leisure tourism -Poland: city-business and health tourism Partners will develop MULTIMEDIA STUDENT INTERNSHIPS (on the job training) in the form of a web application. This form will motivate students to complete the online internship and increase their willingness to act and gain knowledge. The developed solution will constitute an innovation at the universities. Additionally, materials will be prepeard to support students in the implementation of new internship programs and a new form - a HANDOUT FOR STUDENTS FOR ONLINE INTERNSHIP IN THE HORECA SECTOR will be created. Handout will be a signpost on how to use new tools and materials for online internship. The project fits the partners' strategy and mission in the higher education. The project results will play a crucial role in achieving the project's objectives in all aspects from local to European. The project’s partners very carefully prepare the results and will make it public what help to reach the target groups. Especially, pressure will be focus on the promotion of created solutions at universities and educational institutions organizing internships and internships for students. The project assumes the development of universal results, at least on a European scale.
The project was designed to prepare solutions for the University and students that would allow students to do internships and traineeships in the virtual world. The main objective of the project was to develop an online student internship program with multimedia educational materials based on a web application for students studying tourism and hospitality in four language versions. The developed online practices can be implemented in 3 different models of the HORECA industry corresponding to the experience and specialization of partners: 1) ecotourism and cultural tourism (Sweden – representing Northern Europe), 2) mass and leisure tourism (Italy – representing Southern Europe) 3) urban, business and health tourism (Poland – representing Central and Eastern Europe). The pandemic started in 2020, the project ended in 2023 and the situation on the labor market and education confirms that projects involving activities preparing the world to operate in the virtual world are and will be necessary. Today we can see that virtual reality has become a part of our world. Solutions such as those presented in the project are therefore innovative and are a necessity.
The need to implement the project resulted from the experience caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which posed long-term challenges to universities and required the implementation of digital solutions in practical teaching. The pandemic meant that students studying majors in the areas of tourism and gastronomy had limited opportunities to acquire practical skills, and online internships are an ideal solution to continue practical education in various types of tourism: cultural tourism and ecotourism (Sweden), mass tourism, leisure tourism (Italy) , city-business and health tourism (Poland). In the face of rising from the crisis, the HORECA industry needs well-educated and qualified employees, prepared for the changing reality. The VIRTUAL ON THE JOB TRAINING IN TOURISM SECTOR project was a response to these challenges and the diagnosed problems and expectations of the HORECA sector. It was implemented in a partnership that has experience in joint cooperation for vocational education and the tourism industry: WSTIE (Poland), EDU SMART (Ireland), UNIPA (Italy), UGOT (Sweden).