Kick-Off Meeting of the TRAIN-e-HOTEL project
The Department of Tourism as the coordinator for the TRAIN-e-HOTEL project organised the first international meeting of the project partners at the CPU on 27-29 April. Erasmus+ project, reg. no. 2021-1-SK01-KA220-HED-000023291 Innovation of the professional training of future tourism experts using a fictitious training hotel organised the first face-to-face kick-off meeting of the project researchers at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra on 27-29 April. The following representatives of thepartner universities were present at this meeting:
- Silesian University in Opava, School of Business Administration in Karviná, Czech Republic
- Turiba University in Riga, Latvia
- University of Pannonia in Veszprém, Hungary
- University of Salento v Lecce, Italy
The purpose of the meeting was to present the project objectives to the partners, to specify the project tasks and to present the first partial results, i.e. the creation of a fictitious train-e-hotel by student teams under the guidance of teachers from all partner universities. Through the exchange of experiences and the implementation of joint activities, the project aims to address the current challenges facing the hotel industry worldwide under the impact of the pandemic COVID-19 and also under the impact of global climate change.
The working part of the programme was followed by a presentation of the faculty, the university and our old Nitra. The programme also included an optional excursion to introduce the Region of Nitra (Ponitrie) and its tourist potential to the project partners. During the time spent together, the researchers discussed common work tasks and at the same time established new contacts for future joint research activities of the participating departments of the partner universities.
The specific objectives of the project that were on the agenda of the researchers’ kick-off meeting are the following:
- Presentation of the background of the project TRAIN-e-HOTEL
- Presentation of the business plans of the fictitious hotels that are being created.
- Exchange of experiences from the activities on the partial results.
- Presentation of the partial results by tourism students.
- Planning of the next transnational meeting (Veszprém, Hungary)
The following results are planned within the project:
- Proposal for the implementation of hotel information systems
- Creation of a map of cultural diversity
- Creation of an intercultural digital marketing for the emerging hotels
- Plan for improving the environmental sustainability of the hotels
The main manager of the whole project is Ing. Norbert Beták, PhD. and the researchers for Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra are PhDr. Zuzana Palenčíková, PhD., Ing. Hana Bieliková, PhD., Mgr. Viktória Gergelyová, PhD., Mgr. Zuzana Sándorová, PhD. and PaedDr. Ján Veselovský, PhD.
In the next few days, the official website of the project will be launched, where it will be possible to find up-to-date information about the whole project, its goals and activities.
The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme, from the financial grant of the project number 2021-1-SK01-KA220-HED-000023291 Innovation of the professional training of future tourism experts using a fictitious training hotel.
Text: PhDr. Zuzana Palenčíková, PhD., Ing. Norbert Beták, PhD. – Department of Tourism, Faculty of Central European Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra
