eLearning in Travel & Tourism

www.bournemouth.ac.uk 1

eLearning in Travel & Tourism

Dr. Alessandro Inversini School of Tourism

Bournemouth University

Dr. Alessandro Inversini

linkedin.com/in/inversini @beanbol beanbol.com [email protected]


Why eLearning?


In-‐presence training is a cri-cal success factor for the industry but due to: skills shortages; staff turnover; SMEs; globally dispersed mul- units firms; informa-on intensive domain (Bolin & Greenwood, 2003; HEFCE, 1998; Buhalis, 1998; Gretzel, et al, 2000; Sheldon, 1997; Baum and Sigala, 2002)… It is considered to be a cost rather than an investment + %me consuming (Baum, 2002; Buhalis, 1999; Collins, et al , 2003).

Travel and Tourism Sector


eLearning Offer T&T

Cantoni L., Kalbaska N., Inversini A. (2009). eLearning in Tourism and Hospitality: A Map . JoHLSTE -‐ Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Educa-on, 8/2, pp. 148-‐156 .


Example 1 DMO eLearning courses

More Inform

ation: [email protected]


•  Main public: Travel Agents/Travel consultants •  Main providers: DMOs, Travel UNI, Travel Agent Academy, Destination Ventures, The

Travel Institute, Online Travel Training; all registered in UK/USA •  Contents: info about Destination (Geographical position, Demographics, Languages

Spoken, etc.); History and Culture, Accommodation and Transportation; Formalities; Itinerary Planning; Selling tips

•  Methods and strategies: text, video, glossary, suggested websites, interactive map •  Limited interaction with other travel agents and tutors; •  At the end courses: possibility to get an officially recognized certificate •  Time frame: from 40’ Mauritius Training Course to 25 -30 hours Explore New Zealand

(average: 4-5 hours) •  Costs: Free of charge for travel agents, sponsored by a DMO

•  Examples: Austria Expert Program, Oman Academy, Explore New Zealand

National eLearning Courses

Kalbaska, 2012


Prelim

inary be

nchm

arking – autum

n 2009

Cantoni and Kalbaska, 2010 Kalbaska and Cantoni, 2011

Benchm

arking stud

y – autumn 2012


ç Ticino Switzerland Travel Specialist course (TSTS)


About Ticino Ticino Population = 350’000 2.5 million overnight stays per year 58% domestic travel average lengh of stay 3 days The course Five Modules English, about 1.30 hours study time Exam consists of 10 questions 576 travel professionals subscribed 254 travel professionals certified

TSTS Course

Adukaite, Kalbaska and Cantoni, 2013


65% of the respondents sold more trips to Ticino destination

Adukaite, Kalbaska and Cantoni, 2013


Example 2 Developing Tourism Knowledge, Skills & Attitude

More Information: [email protected]


The project aims at developing and testing a set of tools and innovative models for facilitating the development of sustainable tourism in rural areas, specifically in mountainous regions, by fostering a community consultation process, and for training selected opinion leaders to act as multipliers in enhancing community tourism planning via training existing and new local tourism operators, with various degrees of experience, professional and educational background.

Where are we? •  Situation Analysis •  Definition of the Competencies •  Definition of the Pedagogical Model •  Delivery of the course

(WP2 & WP3)


What do RT businesses need? Knowledge: ICT, Quality management, PR and promotion Skills: Customer Services, Communication, Language Attitude: Hospitality, Creativity, Innovation, Entrepreneurship

n= 434


Final sample: 91 ar%cles and 9 books


Cultural & Natural

Heritage

Entrepreneurship Hospitality Management Marketing Community

Consultation

Knowledge Attitude Attitude Skills Skills Knowledge

Technologies

Transversal Module


Meeting F2F

Video Presentation Learning Objectives

Newspaper Article 1

Script

Actions + Links

Evaluation

Newspaper Article 1

Script

Actions + Links

Evaluation

Newspaper Article 1

Script

Actions + Links

Evaluation

Meeting F2F

The 1st meeting F2F will be used to introduce the module and to watch the video with the participants. A discussion will follow about the expected outcome of the module.

Each module will have three practical case study (real or fake) which will lead to a series of “rules or principles” and action points. Participants will have the possibility of further explore the topic by reading online resources. Case studies will be in form of newspaper articles with images and not scientific language. A maximum of 3 pages per article is foreseen. A maximum of 5 “rules and principles” for each article is foreseen After each case study there will be an open questions formative evaluation.

The 2nd F2F meeting will be devoted to the creation of the networked ideas. The results of the group work will be uploaded in the transversal module.


Example 3 IFITT Knowledge bank

More Information: [email protected]


Generation and dissemination of knowledge on Tourism and Technology

•  The IFITT Digital Knowledge Bank supports this challenge around life-long

learning by

•  IFITT e-Tourism Curriculum

•  IFITT e-Tourism Wikipedia

•  IFITT e-Tourism Digital Library

IFITT Knowledge bank


n  Comprehensive base of unique lecturing material •  > 800 Power Point slides (reference-based)

•  Scripts and reference lists for further readings

•  Up-to date case studies

•  Open Resource www.ifitt.org/home/view/the_ifitt_eTourism_curriculum

•  Up-dated and extended according to technological developments

n  Major content areas •  ICT and Tourism - Introduction ó Basic ICT usage scenarios and technologies in

the tourism domain

•  ICT Usage in Tourism – Overview and Case Studies ó Interfaces, suppliers, intermediaries, destination management organisations

•  Trends and Technical Applications ó Social media, Semantic web, Software Agents, Recommender Systems, Dynamic Packaging, Mobile, Online auctions, BI

IFITT eTourism Curriculum


n  Theme-specific Wikipedia on 40 core topics of e-Tourism l  E-Tourism scholars deliver Wiki contributions in their field of expertise

IFITT eTourism Wikipedia

www.bournemouth.ac.uk 21 Prof. F. Ricci)


IFITT Digital Library

n  Parameterized search mechanism at IFITT portal for abstracts and bibliographical data

from research resources in field of e-tourism

l  ENTER proceedings Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism Springer:

2003-2013

l  Journal of Information Technology & Tourism Cognizant/Springer: 1998-2012




http://youtu.be/7vsCAM17O-M