Leonardo da Vinci Mobilities project TourDev2 – Strategic Development of Tourism in Slovakia is our continuing effort in organising mobilities (work placements) for Slovak participants in other countries of EU. Our mobilities have several years of tradition but TourDev and TourDev2 mark new beginning as we completely switched to different level. First, all our mobilities are focusing on the tourism industry as we consider this very important field for Slovakia and its economic development. Slovakia has an abundance of natural attractions, cultural heritage, architectural sites and other tourist attractions. Yet, compared to our neighbouring countries, we are still performing poorly in terms of tourism. Second, it is our aim to provide our participants with meaningful placements, i.e. mobilities where they can learn something about the customer approach, strategic planning o cooperation among stakeholders in tourism industry. That is also why our mobilities are organised with tourism information centres, tour operators, consultancies, conference tourism and private companies. As the last thing it is our goal also to work on improving language abilities of our participants. That is why, for the time being, we are focusing mostly on English speaking countries and have partners from the United Kingdom and Malta.

In case you are representing an EU organisation working in tourism sector and would be interested in accepting our participants for work placements, here is some information for you:

Our organisation is constantly looking for new partners for our tourism mobility projects. Our mobilities (work placements) are intended for employees of cities, towns and regional authorities in Slovakia who are responsible for the development of tourism in their areas. However, they are also open to representatives of private enterprises or fresh graduates with interest in tourism. Within the project the participants should be placed on a work placement in a hosting organisation in other European country. Duration of this placement varies, but it is approximately seven weeks for tourism information centres and longer for other entities.

Mobilities participants are expected to follow the actual work process of their hosting organisation and, if possible, to be actively involved in the working process. Regarding finances, the participants have their complete costs covered from the project resources so there are no financial requirement towards the hosting organisations. Following is a sample outline of an agenda of a placement:

Week 1-2 – English language and studies about local situation.
Week 3-4 – Working in planning and development division.
Week 5-6 – Working with third parties – cooperation in tourism development.
Week 7 – Working with clients – tourist information centres and similar.

Obviously, the actual agenda is always subject to discussion and individual agreement with each partner.

If you find our project interesting, please, do not hesitate to contact us.

This project is funded by the Leonardo da Vinci Mobilities action of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union.