The decision to apply for the project was made because we wanted to offer to students and teachers something that they were deprived of during the pandemic of covid 19: travelling, socialization, education and life abroad as well as development of their professional competences. Our goal was to enable to students the gaining of relevant experience which they had too little in the last years due to the online schooling. With the activity of workplace monitoring we wanted to send the professional staff to hotels and restaurants throughout Europe in order to improve their job competences and to include their new knowledge in their regular teaching process. At the same time we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to invite professionals from other countries to present the knowledge and techniques which cannot be gained or developped during the regular teaching process to students, teachers and wider public. We aimed to promote the school and the beauty of jobs in catering and tourism and thus to attract more students to enroll.
We applied for the Erasmus project »New challenges« in 2021 when corona crisis was already showing its results – the decrease of interest in the jobs in catering and tourism and consequently the decrease in number of students enrolled. The online schooling caused the cancellations of professional excursions abroad, students didn't have the opportunity of practical training in restaurants and hotels which is one of the basic components of their educational process. International activities and projects stopped. There was no possibility of getting an additional training of professional staff. Thus the motivation to work in catering and tourism lowered.