🇮🇸 TourEdu in Iceland – two successful contributions to the Nordic Symposium!

What a fantastic few days at the 34th Nordic Symposium on Tourism and Hospitality Research in Iceland!

The TourEdu team contributed to the conference with two activities, both generating great discussions and valuable exchanges with fellow researchers, educators and tourism professionals.

📚 Competence gaps in tourism and hospitality

Grzegorz Kwiatkowski from Western Norway University of Applied Sciences presented our structured literature review exploring the competencies needed for the future of tourism. From digital and green skills to leadership and intercultural competencies, the research highlights an important point: developing the tourism workforce isn’t just about acquiring new skills, but also making better use of the competencies we already have.

💡 What does Generation Z actually want from a career in tourism?

Susanna Saari from Turku University of Applied Sciences organised an interactive workshop exploring tourism students’ career aspirations, motivations and expectations. Using qualitative data collected through TourEdu, participants discussed how these insights can help us rethink tourism education and develop teaching approaches that better reflect students’ ambitions and the industry’s needs.

Both activities were a great success, and we’re taking plenty of ideas and inspiration back into the project!

A big thank you to everyone who participated, shared their perspectives and contributed to the discussions!