05 May Erasmus Project "Inclusive and Sustainable Tourism Gamification in School Education".
Because of its characteristics, tourism is perceived as the ideal solution for promoting sustainable economic growth. In fact, the relationship between tourism and the environment is high on the agenda of tourism operators, all of whom are aware of its importance.
According to the United Nations Environment Program and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), sustainable development is "a process of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
This approach can be explained using the three pillars of sustainability: economic, social and environmental. Economic sustainability refers to the efficiency of companies' activities in the long term; social sustainability refers to equal opportunities, respect for different cultures and the reduction of discrimination and poverty, while environmental sustainability refers to the proper management of scarce resources, especially non-renewable ones.
Although almost all tourists claim to support the idea of sustainable tourism, only a small proportion of them adopt sustainable behavior during their vacations. In general, companies and public institutions are more environmentally conscious and focus on implementing methods and techniques to make tourism more sustainable. During vacations, tourists focus on experiencing a high level of comfort, or at least higher than that of everyday life. In this situation, it is difficult to convince them to adopt more sustainable behavior, because it could be perceived as a factor that negatively affects their comfort level.
This is the objective of the Erasmus project "Inclusive and Sustainable Tourism Gamification in School Education", in cooperation with several European partners: to promote the teaching of sustainable behaviors through gamification.
The project envisaged the production of three different products.
1. PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ECOLOGICAL AND INCLUSIVE TOURISM
The Practical Guide to Ecological and Inclusive Tourism is aimed at hotel school teachers, in order to train future employees and managers in the HoReCa sectors. It is a manual of approximately 300 pages and translated into eight languages (English, Italian, Bulgarian, Turkish, French, Romanian, Greek and Spanish), based on an analysis of the existing scientific literature on ecotourism, i.e. tourism that takes into account its economic, social and environmental impact.
Therefore, to maximize tourism's positive impact and mitigate its potential risks, the entire tourism community-including policymakers, businesses, tourists and other tourism stakeholders, as well as the broader development community-will need to work together to promote responsible and sustainable tourism worldwide. Governments will need to develop effective and robust policy frameworks for sustainable tourism development; the private sector will need to demonstrate its full commitment to sustainability in its core business models with stronger actions; and the international community will need to implement a more favorable approach to financing tourism to realize its full potential as a driver of sustainable development.
The manual continues with a discussion of promotional methods for the adoption of healthy and sustainable food in the hospitality system and the promotion of local areas, inclusive tourism activities, the employability of workers with disabilities, the promotion of sustainable behaviors among staff members, and how to reduce food waste in the hospitality system.
2. ECOLOGICAL AND INCLUSIVE TOURISM GAME
The Ecotourism Game, on the other hand, is a management game: through it, the user, exposed to certain decisions, has the opportunity to discover and learn the most effective strategies to reduce the environmental impact of a tourist facility. The application is available on Google Play and App Store.
3. SCHOOL EDUCATION GUIDE FOR HOTEL SCHOOLS
Finally, the project included the preparation of a document, translated into eight languages, providing guidance on the promotion of sustainable tourism for secondary schools, particularly hotel schools.
ERASMUS PROJECT "INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM GAMIFICATION IN SCHOOL EDUCATION".
Tourism is considered to be the perfect solution to promote sustainable economic growth because of its main characteristics. Indeed, the relationship between tourism and the environment is high on the agenda of tourism operators, all of whom are aware of its importance.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), sustainable development is "a process aimed at meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
This approach can be explained using the three pillars of sustainability, namely economic, social and environmental. Economic sustainability relates to the efficiency of companies' activities in the long run; social sustainability refers to the provision of equal opportunities, respect for different cultures, and the reduction of discrimination and poverty, while environmental sustainability relates to the proper management of scarce resources, especially non-renewable ones.
Although almost all tourists claim to support the idea of sustainable tourism, only a small proportion of them adopt sustainable behavior during their holidays. Usually, companies and public institutions are more environmentally aware and focus on implementing methods and techniques to make tourism more sustainable. During holidays, the focus of tourists is on experiencing a high level of comfort, or at least higher than in everyday life. In this situation, it is difficult to convince them to adopt a more sustainable behavior, because it could be perceived as a factor that negatively affects their comfort level.
This is the focus of the Erasmus project "Inclusive and Sustainable Tourism Gamification in School Education", in cooperation with several European partners. The aim is to promote the teaching of sustainable behaviour through gamification.
The project involved the production of three separate outputs.
1. PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR ECOLOGICAL AND INCLUSIVE TOURISM
The Practical Guide for Ecological and Inclusive Tourism, aimed at teachers of hotel high schools, thus training future HoReCa employees and managers.
It is a handbook of approximately 300 pages and translated into eight languages (English, Italian, Bulgarian, Turkish, French, Romanian, Greek and Spanish), based on an analysis of the existing scientific literature on ecotourism, i.e. tourism that takes into account its economic, social and environmental impact.
Therefore, in order to maximise the positive impact of tourism and mitigate its potential risks, the entire tourism community- including policy makers, businesses, tourists and other tourism stakeholders, as well as the development community at large - will need to work together to promote responsible and sustainable tourism worldwide. Governments will need to develop effective and robust policy frameworks for the development of sustainable tourism; the private sector will need to demonstrate its full commitment to sustainability in its core business models with stronger actions; and the international community will need to pursue a more favourable approach to the financing of tourism in order to show its full potential as a driver of sustainable development.
The manual then proceeds with an analysis of methods for the adoption of healthy and sustainable food in the hospitality system and the promotion of local areas, inclusive tourism activities, employability of workers with disabilities, encouraging sustainable behavior among staff members and how to reduce food waste in the hospitality system.
2. ECOLOGICAL AND INCLUSIVE TOURISM SERIOUS GAME
The Ecotourism Game, on the other hand, is a management game: through this game, the user, exposed to certain decisions, has the opportunity to discover and learn about the most effective strategies to reduce the environmental impact of a tourist facility. The app is available on Google Play and App Store.
3. SCHOOL EDUCATION GUIDELINES FOR HOTEL SCHOOLS
Lastly, the project included the production of a document, translated into eight languages, providing some guidelines on the promotion of sustainable tourism, aimed at high schools, particularly hotel schools.
