Tourist destinations are led to adopt behaviours capable of responding to a tourism demand increasingly oriented toward finding authentic engaging and unique experiences. This project is placed within this framework. It aims at defining a professional profile of "Destination Managers" that is capable of proposing strategies aiming at managing, enhancing and promoting destinations in an integrated perspective. The profile must possess multidisciplinary skills belonging to the economic, marketing, entrepreneurship and technology spheres. The main outcomes of the project will be the "Destination Manager Profile" (5th EQF Level), the definition of the related "Destination Manager Curriculum" and an OER (Open Educational Resource) implementing a complete DM training curriculum evaluated and recognized through the ECVET system. The OER implemented will follow international standards to facilitate the distribution and reutilization of all learning materials produced.During the present interim reporting period, the consortium was able to achieve not only the definition of the DM profile, compliant to a 5th EQF level, but also the development of a training platform (according to the abovementioned requirements) set-up as an OER, in order to test through a pilot-testing phase, the most innovative modules of the curriculum. Up to now, the pilot testing phase has started with an on-site event held last March, 27-31, in Valladolid, involving 24 students from Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The event was the occasion to create a group of students interested, not only in acquiring innovative contents about Tourism destination management, but also able to interact with the modules’ teachers in order to comment the activities proposed. This interactive process is aimed at receiving feedbacks in order to improve the quality of the training contents that will offer during the official DM course after the project end.Furthermore, the consortium implemented all the forecasted measures to evaluate (internally and externally) the project, as well as developing quality measure techniques and dissemination of the main findings achieved.Last but not the least, the last day of the meeting held in Valladolid was the occasion to organize the first political event with the Spanish stakeholders active in the training and tourism fields, in order to sign a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at strengthening the impact of the VECTOR’s outputs after the project lifespan.
The VECTOR project aimed at defining a high skilled professional profile and the related curriculum of Destination Manager valid for the tourism sector. The specific objectives of the project were:a) to explore the skills needs in tourism and exchange good practices, knowledge and experience among partners;b) to design an EQF based set of educational standards for destination managers based on project findings, on current European VET developments (with a strong focus on labour market needs;c) to develop an innovative and joined training curriculum related to the Destination Manager profile using the ECVET approach and EQAVET principles to be included in an online course (e-learning platform);d) to organize a pilot phase in Spain and Italy involving 24 trainees to test some of the most crucial and innovative modules included in the DM training curriculum. e) to validate the Destination Manager profile and related training curriculum.The project started its activities by developing an in-depth skills survey, addressing almost 500 stakeholders from all around Europe, in order to gather all the information related to the labour market needs and to analyze the skills and competences that were suitable for the Destination Manager profile. The following step has been the development of a survey, at the European level, related to the existing curriculums in the tourism sector (belonging to the 5th and 6th EQF level) in order to develop a synoptic reading of them as well as to identify evidence of mismatch between market needs and students performance.The DM profile has been designed as a standard: In this Standard, a competence is defined and assessed as a process. Each competence is conceived as the sum of different processes. In this way it was easier to link the profile with the DM curriculum structured, following the ECVET methodology, as a series of unit of learning outcomes. The competences are:1) To analyse the market and the touristic trend, getting the features of the touristic demand and offer.2) To organise the resources (natural/historical/cultural/economical) of the destination, also by achieving the engagement of the local stakeholders.3) To coordinate actors and stakeholders, by creating a network, identifying common goals and negotiating the different needs of the parties involved.4) To promote the territory. The DM takes promotional actions in order to enhance the touristic offer according to the demand of the various customers, increasing their motivation towards the attractiveness of the territory.5) To manage and solve problems, by monitoring profits and expenses, assuring the quality of the service provided and managing time and costs.After the definition of the profile it was possible to structure the related DM curriculum and the learning contents. The curriculum was object of a pilot-testing process, carried-on involving 24 students from all around Europe. that helped the consortium to test effectively the training course not only from the contents point of view, but also analysing the most suitable supply modalities of the course aimed at increasing the possibility for workers to join the DM course.The dissemination of the results has been done at the national and international level, designing 2 work packages dedicated on such topic. The consortium put particular attention in involving key stakeholders at regional/national level during the dissemination events, signing Memorandum of Understanding with such key players during three international conference on Destination Management held in the 3 partners’ countries. These agreements are an evidence of the work developed to assure a future to the project outputs beyond the project lifespan. Furthermore, at the international level, the consortium capitalized the project joining international conferences/events organized by its associated partners as well as cooperating fruitfully with other 3 Erasmus+ project focued on tourism.