Two workshops titled "Analysis of Needs and Priorities for AI-Enabled Skills Development in Tourism and Hospitality" were successfully completed as part of the European Erasmus+ project "AI-Enabled Skill-Building for Tourism and Hospitality: Bridging the Industry–Academia Divide (BIAD)."
The first workshop was held in person on Wednesday, 13 May 2026, in Amphitheatre 1, while the second took place online on Wednesday, 20 May 2026. Both events drew undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as PhD candidates, who took an active part in the proceedings.
During the workshops, participants contributed actively to the process of analysing the tourism sector's current skills needs — from mapping needs across thematic areas to prioritising key competencies and linking them to training requirements. The workshops included work on the following thematic areas:
- Market trends shaping skills in tourism
- Digital skills
- Environmental (green) skills
- Resilience skills
- Training needs and modes of learning
The aim was to identify the education and training needs that are decisive for a sustainable, digitally advanced and resilient tourism sector.
In both workshops, Professor Christina Beneki, Scientific Coordinator of the project for the Ionian University, presented the BIAD project. Project team member Assistant Professor Konstantinos Voglis then presented the workshops' thematic content, examining market trends and the three core families of skills —digital, green and resilience skills— along with their connection to specific professional profiles in the sector.
To support the process, a dedicated digital platform was developed to record students' responses.
The project is funded under the ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PI-ALL-INNO-EDU-ENTERP – Alliances for Education and Enterprises programme (Project Coordinator: Prof. Luca Reitano, Forma Camera, Rome, Italy).
We warmly thank the students for their participation and contribution.
Project website: https://www.projectbiad.com/
Call for Participation
