study on private tourism accomodations … on private tourism accomodations ... executive summary 3...

Rooms to VET

Upskilling and professionalization of private sector tourism accommodation

services

Project Number: 2015-1-HR01-KA202-013096

STUDY ON PRIVATE TOURISM

ACCOMODATIONS

STATE OF THE ART, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT

INTELLECTUAL OUTCOME 1

REPORT by ITC (M. Begoña Arenas)

01:/A3: EU REPORT. FINAL INTEGRATED STUDY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

1. INTRODUCTION: THE PROJECT AND THE NATIONAL REPORT 8

1.1 THE ROOMS TO VET PROJECT 8

1.2 THIS STUDY 9

1.3 SHORT INTRODUCTION: PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION DEFINITION AND SHARING ECONOMY 10

2. DESK RESEARCH: NATIONAL CONTEXTS INVOLVED 11

2.1. EU GENERAL CONTEXT AND COUNTRIES INVOLVED 11

2.2 KEY TOURISM INDICATORS PER PARTICIPATING COUNTRY 12

2.3. GENERAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXTS IN THE PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES AND GENERAL OVERVIEW OF

PRIVATE ACCOMMODATIONS 13

2.4 OVERVIEW: EXISTING LEGAL FRAMEWORKS, POLICIES AND GENERAL OVERVIEW 14

2.5 VET OVERVIEW AND FOCUS ON TRAINING: PRACTICES AND METHODOLOGIES 15

2.6 SELECTION OF PRACTICES 16

2.7 SPECIFIC CHALLENGES REGARDING THE TARGET GROUP, LEARNING NEEDS AND USE OF ICT 21

3. GAP ANALYSIS 26

4. SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS AND GUIDELINES 32

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT: METHODOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS32

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT 34

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PILOTING 36

REFERENCES 38

ANNEXES 39

NATIONAL REPORT CROATIA 39

NATIONAL REPORT GREECE 39

NATIONAL REPORT CYPRUS 39

NATIONAL REPORT SPAIN 39

NATIONAL REPORT SLOVENIA 39

TRANSLATIONS OF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 39

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CRO 39

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GR 39

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ES 39

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SI 39


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Europe is the world's no. 1 tourist destination, with the highest density and diversity of tourist attractions. The European region, as a whole, represents 51.7% of the total world arrivals, of which the EU-28 countries represent 39.5% while Southern/Mediterranean Europe attracts 18.6% of that figure. As a result, the tourist industry has become a key sector of the European economy, generating over 10% of EU GDP (directly or indirectly) and employing 9.7m citizens in 1.8m businesses. ROOMS2VET is an EU funded project (through Erasmus+ - KA2), addressing providers and wannabe providers (owners, managers, staff) of private tourism accommodation services, including apartments, small residences and family arrangements as well as VET trainers in the project target countries (Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, Spain) and beyond. On the basis of an extensive research, best practices identification and a thorough needs analysis, Rooms to VET project is to develop learning material and a free, online training platform to help the providers of private tourism accommodation services make the most of their tourism activities or businesses and grasp the profit from the emerging sustainable and alternative tourism trends. The training platform will consist of 6 Modules, translated in all 5 project languages (English, Croatian, Greek, Slovenian, and Spanish) on different and equally important aspects: Module 1: Hospitality and service culture Module 2: Planning for success Module 3: Running your business day to day Module 4: Face-lifting your business Module 5: Creative and innovative products and services Module 6: Promoting and selling effectively This executive summary is part of the project O1: “Study On Private Tourism Accomodations: State Of The Art, Challenges And Prospects For Development”, in particular presents the EU report of Activity 3: Final integrated Study (with ANNEX: specific country reports and translation of executive summaries from EN into ES, HL, HR, SI). The concept of private accommodation in the course of tourism history has been variously defined. In the English speaking parts of the world, private accommodation is most commonly referred to as bed and breakfast (B&Bs), homestays, pensions, guesthouses and agro-tourism. Also the term “private tourism accommodation” refers to tourism accommodation that do not conform to the definition of ‘‘establishment’’ (Demunter, 2009). Indicative of private tourist accommodations is that they provide a limited number of rooms and bed-places and in some cases guests are sharing accommodation facilities and amenities with the family which is, at the same time, the owner of the accommodation facility. It is this connection between guests and hosts that creates the “home atmosphere” which is the most important element of the attractiveness of this form of accommodation. Generally speaking, those types of accommodation facilities are usually small, between 1 and 25 rooms, although the number of rooms and type of their formal registration mostly depends on national legislation and guidelines defined by private accommodation professional associations. We have included a special note in our study regarding the sharing economy and its impact in Tourism (EUROPARLIAMENT Briefing September 2015: The sharing economy and tourism Tourist accommodation),


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that explains how recently, a growing number of individuals are proposing to share temporarily with tourists what they own (for example their house or car) or what they do (for example meals or excursions). This type of sharing is referred to as the 'sharing economy'. The response to the sharing economy remains fragmented in the EU. Some activities have been regulated at local level. Neither the European Commission nor the Parliament have taken an official position so far, though a recent report from the Transport and Tourism Committee touches upon the issue. The Commission has announced that it plans to assess the role of platforms in order to see if any changes or new legislation is needed. There are several groups of private accommodation providers that have been identified in the reports:

- The first group is permanent residents of a specific touristic destination usually formed by families with some kind of tradition hosting tourists;

- The second group is made by the owners of town homes or apartments that have moved to major cities but still hold a second residence and rent it.

- The third group is people building or purchasing a second home in the same town and renting the entire home or extra rooms to tourists during summer.

The group most probably holding the least experience in hospitality (and sometimes even not officially registering their facilities in any way) is the third one, even though inexperienced hosts may also come from the second group. In the collection of data from the report there is a lack of information regarding the target group, mainly due to the lack of policy orientation towards private accommodation. However, in the Croatian report we find that even though there is an overall lack of insights into private accommodation owners’ profile, motivations, business practices and profitability, results from 3 studies show:

Residents of Croatian destinations are generally favourably disposed to tourists

Private accommodation owners general profile: o are relatively well educated 38% holding a university degree, o The average owner of a family accommodation is involved in this form of tourism for 7

years of more o for the owners of private accommodation 40% of the revenue from private

accommodations supplement the income from employment; 30% from retirement, while for 21% it is the main source of income.

They are “technology oriented”: 58% of the owners have their own web page of the accommodation facility, 63% of their sites is customized for the mobile devices, 85% of accommodation have wireless Internet access, and 97% facilities provide free Wi-Fi for customers.

Regarding the use of ICT, according to Eurostat ICT have become widely available to the general EU public, both in terms of accessibility as well as cost. A boundary was crossed in 2007, when a majority (55 %) of households in the EU-28 had internet access. This proportion continued to increase and in 2014 reached 81 %, rising by an additional 2 percentage points compared with 2013.


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The countries involved, present common and differential features regarding their socio-economic contexts, existing Legal Frameworks and policies and VET structures and methodologies. With the information obtained from the National reports, we have drafted a GAP analysis focusing on the following SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis to reflect upon the situation, challenges and prospects for development of Private Tourism Accommodations:

STRENGHTS WEAKNESSES

General awareness of the economic potential of Private accommodations

Perceived awareness of the need of updated learning provision in all countries researched

Homogeneous data on internet access, for which the proposed online approach allows for an increased reach of individuals, lower production costs than traditional courses and free of charge

Perceived potential of the proposed learning in the researched countries

A modular training system with small units seems to be a good option for the target

Different audience profiles with different needs

Limited internet availability in specific areas, particularly the remote islands or mountainous villages (e.g. in Greece)

Need to clarify issues regarding provision of training (place, duration, language, availability… etc.)

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Easy access to Internet in most countries

Young adult population promptness to digital environments and technologies

Easy access to mobiles smartphones and computers of the target

Global increased awareness about sustainable tourism among the population, as a result of social and economic crisis

Online training as convenient option to fit personal and professional life of the target group (as in many cases it is not the main source of the family)

Global economic and social crisis

Lack of lifelong learning habits of the target

Lack of experience and trust in distance learning

Non homogenous levels of digital literacy

Cultural issues: lack of interest, motivation and habits concerning the quality improvement of their services

“Traditional tourism” offer aggressive marketing (all inclusive packages, your operators…etc.)

Lack of funding in some cases

We will include here below the recommendations emerged at 3 levels:


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Regarding the CONTENT, we advise:

• Include information on how you could find funding sources to renovate and decorate your accommodation (Face-lifting your business),

• Place special attention to web 2.0 tools, as even though it has not been selected as key issue in the proposal, it is considered an extremely relevant issue in the frame of private accommodations nowadays,

• When planning for success, include learning on building up a budget according to income/expenses that allow planning and thinking forward,

• Think of including a glossary, a basic dictionary on the key issues when running a private accommodation service (think of using a wiki) including basic concepts such as the “home atmosphere” which is regarded as one of the most important elements of the attractiveness of this form of accommodation,

• Implement continuous online monitoring and supervision.

The variety of TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS which are used within a course is an important ingredient to motivate learners. Due to the “relatively low” interest in attending learning courses that has been reported, it is advised to support some guiding principles proposal (in the frame of O4):

• Use of inquiry-based and problem-based learning approaches and inclusion of stories and case studies as simple examples on stories and practices in which people can feel identified, promoting Peer to Peer support and communication between learners. This is particularly important for the online selection of Good practices in the frame of IO2, which could be used as part of the learning if organised as such from the beginning;

• Accommodate multiple learning styles and contextualise learning to meet the needs of private accommodation owners in the different national and regional contexts involved;

• Provide authentic learning opportunities. Present the content in modular “learning bites” that will be able to provide just in time learning

• Promote self-reflection through the provision of tutor support and guidance, as well as keeping online journals

• Preparation of learning activities to be carried out either synchronously or asynchronously

And we may also add:

• Think of the possibility of including a Resources section as “further knowledge about the topic” including links to cases, multimedia materials, books or “further readings”, information about existing funding in your country, …etc. that would help the learners to feel more engaged.

• Think of the possibility of making up video tutorials and/or a user-friendly Learners’ handbook combining both information about the structure of the themes and modular “learning bites” and the technology to be used and their implications for the trainees. The idea is to make up a simple and trainee oriented information guide, a support tool to facilitate understanding;

• FAQ which will solve questions divided into sections (contents, technical requirements…etc.).


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As to the TECHNOLOGY, we have introduced some tips for designers before they prepare the online

courses:

• Integrate a variety of technologies • Set clear expectations • Adopt a clear organizational system • Select active learning techniques • Offer differentiated learning • Tailor teaching to an assortment of learning styles • Take advantage of online resources • Offer collaborative learning options • Allow for easy communication • Use multiple assessment methods

The flexibility in scheduling and format is critical to success, particularly in EU projects where a variety of languages and contexts are involved.

Finally, we will include some considerations for the PILOT TRAINING.

We recommend to:

Consider the possibility to hold face to face sessions in the piloting countries (recommended: at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the online courses) and use ad hoc evaluation grids to be filled in by the participants.

Consider the possibility to make an initial survey of pilot participants in each country to check what motivates them the most and also to check their level of familiarity with the technology they will have to use;

Prepare and encourage the tutors to also guide the participant learners on the use of technologies (platform and mobile devices);

Ask all the learners to report orally on previous experiences and try to build on “good practices examples”.

fill in ad hoc assessment forms and base each session on the results of the previous evaluation results

Finally, not all the learners will have the same profile and experience: the learning needs to be

customised as much as possible.


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1. INTRODUCTION: THE PROJECT AND THE NATIONAL REPORT

1.1 THE ROOMS TO VET PROJECT

Europe is the world's no. 1 tourist destination, with the highest density and diversity of tourist attractions. The European region, as a whole, represents 51.7% of the total world arrivals, of which the EU-28 countries represent 39.5% while Southern/Mediterranean Europe attracts 18.6% of that figure. As a result, the tourist industry has become a key sector of the European economy, generating over 10% of EU GDP (directly or indirectly) and employing 9.7m citizens in 1.8m businesses. More than 50% of the EU-28 population participates in the tourism sector while tourism contributes to employment and regional development; sustainable development; an enhanced natural and cultural heritage; shaping of a European identity. Tourism is also an important means of promoting Europe's image in the world, projecting the European shared values and promoting the European model – which is the result of centuries of cultural exchanges, linguistic diversity and creativity. The overall goal of ROOMS2VET is to maintain and increase the competitiveness of the European tourism industry by supporting the professionalization of tourism services, especially tourism services by owners of private accommodations, small residences and family arrangements, as well as the exploitation by them of all opportunities and tools available at national and European level in this respect. The specific objectives of the project are therefore to: Make available to providers of private tourism accommodations and residences the necessary knowledge to plan their business, identify and successfully address the main challenges and trends Help private tourism accommodation providers to face-lift and professionalise their services in order to capture economic benefits, including alternative kinds of tourism, ie. cruise, business tourism Identify and raise awareness about certification tools and systems available, including the tools and systems that the European Union has developed in this respect, and the ways to make use of them Examine the different legal frameworks and standards pertaining to their kind of business Raise awareness about the value and methodology of developing networks among tourism stakeholders, including tour operators, activities’ providers, etc. ROOMS2VET project mainly addresses providers and wannabe providers (owners, managers, staff) of private tourism accommodation services, including apartments, small residences and family arrangements as well as VET trainers in the project target countries (Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, Spain) and beyond. At the same time, it aims to involve tourism-related associations and organisations at all levels, other businesses directly or indirectly related to the tourism industry (travel agencies, ranches, wineries, etc.), tourism-related policy-makers and administrative bodies (tax, authorities, etc.) and, certainly, tourists, customers and end consumers. On the basis of an extensive research, best practices identification and a thorough needs analysis, Rooms to VET project is to develop learning material and a free, online training platform to help the providers of private tourism accommodation services make the most of their tourism activities or businesses and grasp the profit from the emerging sustainable and alternative tourism trends.


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The training platform will consist of 6 Modules, translated in all 5 project languages (English, Croatian, Greek, Slovenian, and Spanish) on different and equally important aspects: Module 1: Hospitality and service culture Module 2: Planning for success Module 3: Running your business day to day Module 4: Face-lifting your business Module 5: Creative and innovative products and services Module 6: Promoting and selling effectively The consortium of the Rooms to VET project is consisted from 9 partners from 5 different EU countries; which come from a wide range of backgrounds including training, tourism, research and development centers and SMEs.

1.2 THIS STUDY

This report is part of the project O1: “STUDY ON PRIVATE TOURISM ACCOMODATIONS: STATE OF THE ART, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT”, in particular presents the EU report of Activity 3: Final integrated Study (with ANNEX: specific country reports) and translation of executive summaries from EN into ES, HL, HR and SI. The study aims to map the state of the art in tourism services of private accommodations, residences or private arrangements in consortium partner countries and at EU level. According to what stated in the PLANNING AND METHODOLOGY IN THE FRAME OF IO1 (“Study On Private Tourism Accommodations: State Of The Art, Challenges And Prospects For Development”) A1 of IO1, this report follows the structure proposed:

I. INTRODUCTION: THE PROJECT AND THIS STUDY

II. NATIONAL CONTEXTS INVOLVED: (including desk and field research results)

o Summary of general socio-economic contexts and key tourism indicators o Overview: Existing legal frameworks, policies and general overview including:

Relevant statistics about accommodation services (and private accommodation services if there are any).

Relevant associations and stakeholders o VET Overview o Focus on ONLINE-TRAINING (include desk and field research results and selection of

practice/s) III. GAP ANALYSIS UPDATED (with results of interviews)

IV. CONCLUSIONS including SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS AND GUIDELINES for the development of

Rooms2VET IO2 (best practices) and IO3 (Needs’ Analysis).

http://efinlit.eu/index.php/about/partners


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1.3 SHORT INTRODUCTION: PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION DEFINITION AND SHARING ECONOMY

In the course of tourism history, the concept of private accommodation has been variously defined. In the English speaking parts of the world, private accommodation is most commonly referred to as bed and breakfast (B&Bs), homestays, pensions, guesthouses and agro-tourism. Also the term “private tourism accommodation” refers to tourism accommodation that do not conform to the definition of ‘‘establishment’’ (Demunter, 2009). Indicative of private tourist accommodations is that they provide a limited number of rooms and bed-places and in some cases guests are sharing accommodation facilities and amenities with the family which is, at the same time, the owner of the accommodation facility. It is this connection between guests and hosts that creates the “home atmosphere” which is the most important element of the attractiveness of this form of accommodation. Generally speaking, those types of accommodation facilities are usually small, between 1 and 25 rooms, although the number of rooms and type of their formal registration mostly depends on national legislation and guidelines defined by private accommodation professional associations. We have included a special note in this study regarding the sharing economy and its impact in Tourism (EUROPARLIAMENT Briefing September 2015 The sharing economy and tourism Tourist accommodation), that explains how recently, a growing number of individuals are proposing to share temporarily with tourists what they own (for example their house or car) or what they do (for example meals or excursions). This type of sharing is referred to as the 'sharing economy'. The sharing economy has had a positive impact on tourism (easy access to a wide range of services that are often of higher quality and more affordable ) as well as a negative one (the sharing economy provides unfair competition, reduces job security, avoids taxes and poses a threat to safety, health and disability compliance standards). The response to the sharing economy remains fragmented in the EU. Some activities have been regulated at local level. Neither the European Commission nor the Parliament have taken an official position so far, though a recent report from the Transport and Tourism Committee touches upon the issue. The Commission has announced that it plans to assess the role of platforms in order to see if any changes or new legislation is needed.


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2. DESK RESEARCH: NATIONAL CONTEXTS INVOLVED

2.1. EU GENERAL CONTEXT AND COUNTRIES INVOLVED

The European Union (EU) is a supranational political entity consisting

of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe.

With a combined population of over 500 million inhabitants, or 7.3%

of the world population, the EU in 2012 generated a nominal gross

domestic product (GDP) of 16.584 trillion US dollars, constituting

approximately 23% of global nominal GDP and 20% when measured in

terms of purchasing power parity. As an economic union, the EU has

the largest nominal GDP and second largest in GDP (PPP) in the world.

Additionally, 26 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human

Development Index, according to the UNDP. Source of data and image:

Wikipedia

In this report, we will be focusing on data

about the EU in general and, more specifically,

about the participating Rooms2VET countries,

that are: Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia

and Spain.

(Map made up with Google maps)

In the following tables we will present:

2.2. Key tourism indicators per participating country

2.3. General socio-economic contexts in the participating countries and general overview of Private

accommodations

2.4. Overview: Existing Legal Frameworks, Policies and General Overview

2.5. VET Overview and Focus on Training: Practices And Methodologies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_and_Monetary_Union_of_the_European_Union


2.2 KEY TOURISM INDICATORS PER PARTICIPATING

COUNTRY Croatia Slovenia Cyprus Spain Greece

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION OF TOURISM. COUNTRY LEVEL (2015)

1. Total contribution of tourism to GDP (in %) 28,30% 12,70% 17.47% (agro tourism) 15,20% 17,60%

2. Foreign exchange earnings generated by tourism (in bn. EUR)

10,6 2,1 2.023 (end 2014) 15,2 12,2

3. Total tourism employment (in %) 13,60% 5,20% 11.1% (end 2015) 5% 19,70%

TOURISM STATISTICS (2014)

4. Overall number of arrivals (in '000) 12.882,8 3.524,0 2,659.4 (2015- overall arrivals) -1,935.6 (licenced establishments)

64.995,28 21.829,5

5. Overall number of overnights (in '000) 66.125,0 9.590,6 12,884 (2014) (licenced estab. 259.600 95.116,4

6. PA share in arrival (in %) 26% 4,32% 1.2% (2014) N/A N/A

7. PA share in overnights (in %) 35% 6,32% 0.6% (2014) N/A N/A

8. Top 5 tourism generating markets

1. Germany 2. Slovenia 3. Austria

4. Italy 5. Czech Republic

1. Italy 2. Austria

3. Germany 4. Russian Feder. 5. Netherlands

1. United Kingdom 2. Russia, 3. Greece,

4. Germany 5. Sweden (2015)

1. United Kingdom 2.France

3.Germany 4.Nordic countries

5.Italy

1. Germany 2. UK

3. France 4. Russia 5. Italy

9. Top 5 tourism generating markets for PA (if available)

1. Germany 2. Poland

3. Czech Republic 4. Italy

5. Slovenia

1. Germany 2. Italy

3.United Kingdom 4.Hungary

5. Czech Republic

1. United Kingdom 2. Germany

3. Russia 4. Netherlands

5. France

N/A N/A

10. Tourism Intensity 15.495 4.653 N/A 8.462 8,705 11. Average length of stay 5,1 2,7 9 (2013) 9,0 4,4

12. Average length of stay in PA 7,0 2,8 3.3 days (2014) N/A N/A

13. Total accommodation capacity (number of beds) 893.827 113.131 86,005 (2014) 3.482.983 1.273.445

14. Share of accommodation capacity in PA (if available) 44,3% 12,4% 1.6% (2014) N/A N/A

15. Yearly net occupancy rate (in % and days) 21,2%, 77 days 30,8% 59.8% (2014) 59% 47,3% (seasonality

data is not officially available)

16. Yearly net occupancy rate in PA in % and days) 16,6%, 61 days 19,2% 23.3% (2014) N/A N/A


2.3. GENERAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXTS IN THE PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES AND GENERAL OVERVIEW OF PRIVATE ACCOMMODATIONS

Croatia Cyprus Greece Slovenia Spain

Tourism dominates the Croatian service sector and accounts for up to 20% of Croatian GDP. Annual tourist industry income for 2014 was estimated at €7.4 billion. Private accommodation is very common type of accommodation in Croatia.

Private accommodation generates some important economic impacts: 20 million EUR paid to the state budget

for the presumptive income tax in 2014

the local tax to tourism boards amounted to 2.7 million EUR in the same year

estimated 20 billion EUR investment in construction and upgrading of facilities

estimated annual income of 1 billion, half of which from renting rooms and other half from sales of food and beverages, souvenirs and excursions

estimated 100 million EUR income for travel agencies from commission on booking private accommodation

estimated 200 million EUR of additional spending (apart from accommodation) generated by tourist staying in private accommodation

about 1.3 billion EUR of total annual expenditure of tourists staying in private accommodations.

Cyprus has a market economy dominated by the service sector, which accounts for four-fifths of GDP (Cyprus profile, 2015). The tourism market is one of the largest economic sectors in Cyprus. At the end of 2014 the GDP was €17,3937 billions at current prices where the tourism gross output at current prices accounted for € 1,9335 billions or 11,12% and taking into consideration the value added at current market prices as well, it accounted for the 17,47% of GDP . (CYstat, 2015b). According to the Cyprus Statistical Service records, at the end of 2015 2,659,405 with the 2,413,817 coming from Europe and the 1,721,038 from EU (28) countries with the major tourism market (1,041,203) being the United Kingdom (Cyprus Statistical Service, 2016). Tourism at the coastal areas of Cyprus was the main trend until recently. The Cyprus Tourism Organization’s (CTO’s) 2011-2015 strategy, which coincided with the period of preparation and consultation for the new programming period 2014-2020, stresses that the Rural Tourism is important to mitigate the seasonality. CTO’s 2011-2015 strategy called also for the promotion of sustainable and alternative tourism, the last one focusing on “experiential tourism” and the increase of the number of individual visitors.

Welcoming more than 12 million tourists every year (GNTO, 2015) and providing 50.000 tourism accommodations (Kousounis, 2015), Greece constitutes one of the most popular tourist destinations worldwide and has been ranked very high among the World Tourism Organisation/WTO’s list (GNTO, 2015). In 2015, Greek private tourism accommodations amounted to 40,000 units/provisions (Poutetsi, 2014) with a total number of 500.000 beds, while collective accommodation establishments amounted to a much lesser number of around 10.000 establishments (Kousounis, 2015), including 9.720 hotels (Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, 2015) with a total number of 352.000 rooms and 297 camping sites (Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, 2015).

Slovenia offers tourists a wide variety of natural and cultural amenities. Different forms of tourism have developed. The tourist gravitational area is considerably large, however the tourist market is small. There has been no large-scale tourism and no acute environmental pressures. Most of foreign tourists to Slovenia come from the key European markets. European tourists create more than 90% of Slovenia's tourist income. According to statistical data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (2016) there were registered 53.255 private beds in accommodation facilities in 2014. Slovenia. Only private rooms had 13,988 beds, including hotels and campsites there were 113.131 beds. Statistics recorded that private accommodation facilities had 2.519.194 overnight stays in 2014. In private rooms only 606.094, along with hotels and campsites there were 9.590.642 overnight stays.

Spain is a world’s leading tourism country. It ranks third in the world according to UNWTO 2014 as Most-visited countries by international tourist arrivals. Tourism accounts for over 10% of Spain’s GDP, creates 11% of the country’s jobs and helps to offset its trade deficit. Tourism is a crucial asset for the creation of wealth and employment, acting as a driving force even in times of downturn, and it also has a huge knock-on effect in other productive sectors. According to sources of the tourism accommodation sector, with the approximate data, in Spain there are:

124.668 touristic apartments that

give direct employment to 22,821 people and 7,500 others indirectly,

with a total economic impact of around two (2) million euros annually.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Croatia


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2.4 OVERVIEW: EXISTING LEGAL FRAMEWORKS, POLICIES AND GENERAL OVERVIEW

Croatia Cyprus Greece Slovenia Spain

Legal FR: Act on the Provision of Tourism Services, is an umbrella act, regulating provision of tourism services that also applies to private accommodation Hospitality and Catering Industry Act

which regulates the manner and

conditions under which legal and

natural persons may perform the

hospitality and catering activity

Policies: Croatian Strategic Tourism Development Plan 2020 The strategy identifies three key issues in relation to private accommodation that it seeks to rectify. National program for development of (family) private accommodation The National Program defines activities, authorities and implementation deadlines. Private accommodation is not in the focus of public tourism policies.

Legal FR and policies: Cyprus Tourism Organization’s CTO considers the term “private accommodation providers” to better apply to agrotouristic units which in Cyprus are mostly run by families. These are usually up to 16 rooms and operate in rural areas. CTO’s wider scope for agrotourism is to attract tourists that come for “boutique tourism” and the emphasis is given to “experience tourism”. In terms of the legal framework, this type of touristic units comes under The Hotels and Tourist Establishments Laws 1969 to 2014, under the traditional buildings legislation. In the case of Cyprus, private accommodation is considered as part of the agrotouristic units which in Cyprus are mostly run by families and comes under the general Hotel and tourism law regulations.

Legal FR and policies: The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (Ν.4276/2014) is the national competent body for the classification of both collective tourism establishments and private tourism accommodation. Three types of self-catering private tourism accommodations have been identified:

Furnished villas >= 80 sq.m.

Furnished residencies (whether they are involved in a complex of detached houses or not) >= 40 sq.m. (Consisted of 1 room) and >= 60 sq.m. (consisted of 2 rooms or more)

Unfurnished apartments/villas operating under the special operational seal of GNTO (maximum two dwellings per owner)

According to the existing legislation (P.D. 337/2000) furnished rooms/apartments rental is subject to a specific authorisation procedure, for which Ministry of Tourism is responsible. After completing the authorisation procedure, the property owner receives a special operational seal of GNTO (Article 2 § 2 of Law. 4276/2014) irrespective of their being professional in the tourism sector. Licensing of rental apartments in blocks of flats is extremely difficult if not impossible due to specific regulations set by P. D. 337/2000. If the dwellings operate under the special operational GNTO license/seal, they can be rented on a weekly or a monthly basis, up to 3 months per year and they are considered short-term tourism rentals. If the dwellings do not operate under the special operational GNTO license/seal, they can be rented only on a monthly basis and they are considered secondary residence rentals. This minimum-1-month restriction has been recently abolished in the frame of L. 4336/2015, yet the legal void has not yet been addressed.

Legal FR and policies: Private rooms in Slovenia can be legally hired out in two ways:

One is according to the Law on Catering from 2007 (Law of hospitality industry -Official Gazette of RS, no. 93/2007- and Rules on categorization of accommodation establishments -Official Gazette of RS, no. 62/08, 80/08, 115/08 and 72/09-. An accommodation facility, must meet in advance all the general and specific conditions prescribed by the Rules on minimum technical conditions and on a minimum level of services for the provision of catering operations (Official Gazette of RS, no. 88/00, 114/04 and 52/08 )

and the other one is under the Law on Housing (Official Gazette of RS, no. 69/2003).

Jurinčič (2009) estimates the proportion of unregistered tourists in Slovenian Istria at 11,250 or 50% respectively at the end of the season on the basis of increased water consumption.

Legal FR: Initially private tourist accommodations (apartments) were regulated by the Urban Leases Act (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos), but this law was repealed in the framework of the European directive on services in January 2010, leaving these accommodations in a legal limbo. In this situation, the regions in Spain will have direct competence to regulate them: so the ES panorama is divided into those Regions who already have regulations and those who do not (if there is no regulation, the apartments will be covered by the amendment of the Urban Leases Act). The direct impact of this is that, if prior to 2010 it was enough to have a certificate of occupancy or license of first occupation for renting a house or apartment seasonally, now the autonomy could set all kinds of regulations and conditions, including location, furniture or disabled accesses. As to policy, as mentioned, Private accommodation is not in the focus of public tourism policies and it naturally falls into the more general Tourism strategic document in Spain is the Plan Nacional Integral de Turismo (National Integral Tourism Plan) 2012-15 (PNIT from now on).

http://www.hosteltur.com/tag/plan-nacional-integral-del-turismo

http://www.hosteltur.com/tag/plan-nacional-integral-del-turismo


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2.5 VET OVERVIEW AND FOCUS ON TRAINING: PRACTICES AND METHODOLOGIES

Croatia Cyprus Greece Spain Slovenia

The current situation in Croatian high school education and lifelong education is: - High school education for private accommodation: In Croatia, there are six basic vocational programs for tourism and hospitality, lasting three or four years - Llife-long education programmes can be roughly divided into mandatory/certified and voluntary ad hoc. Mandatory include: 1.- Certification for local and regional tourism board/association manager, and 2.- Certification programs for tour-guides, animators, travel escorts and travel agency managers. Vocational training for continuous education or specialized adult education for tourism and hospitality does not exist, but due to the emerging need many training providers organize and implement different training courses, usually under initiative of the tourism boards and more recently, as a part of project development, especially if funded by EU programs. Also vocational associations and private schools are organizing, specific learning actions based on the perceived needs of the private accommodation owners.

In Cyprus, VET is provided in a lifelong learning perspective through: 1) Government –regulated VET provision, that is: a)Apprenticeship system for young people that have not successfully completed their secondary compulsory education; b) VET at upper secondary level c) VET at post-secondary level and d) VET at tertiary level; and 2) through other forms of training provision, that is: a) Training for employees; b) Training for the unemployed; c)Training of other groups at risk of exclusion from the labour market; and d) Training for adults in general. This is provided by 1.- Human Resource Development Authority (HRDA), 2.- the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) and the Ministry of Social Insurances and Labour 3.- along with other private institutions, including programmes that are not subsidized by the HRDA (Cedefop, 2012) Private accommodation providers, if listed as a company with registered employees with contributions to the HRDA Fund then their employees, including themselves if employees of the company, are entitled to receive subsidized training approved by HRDA

Formal and non-formal VET in Greece is offered at four levels: upper secondary, post-secondary, tertiary, and continuing. Greek Tourism Organization (GNTO)/Regional Tourism Services is responsible for private accommodation services providers’ accreditation (under the supervision of Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism). The accreditation process includes the approval of some technical requirements as well as the granting of the special function signal. Businesses in this sector are classified into rented furnished rooms and mixed accommodation (providing food), all supervised by the Greek Tourism Organization. The start-up of this business does not typically require having specific training or expertise (If they have employees, owners must be trained in technical security issues; If there are swimming pools, personnel have to be trained for its supervision…etc.). The top representative body is SETKE (Confederation of Entrepreneurs in Tourist

Accommodation of Greece), its members are all small tourist family businesses that provide accommodation in rooms and apartments.

In 2004, the government of Spain proposed a new VET model, with the aim of improving the quality of VET, allowing its decentralization by giving the management to regional governments and improving institutional administration. In 2007, Royal Decree 395/2007 on Professional Training for Employment, the 2 existing subsystems (training for the unemployed and for the employed) were linked so as not to duplicate efforts. Since 2002 Spain has a National catalogue of Qualifications regulated by the National Institute of Qualifications (INCUAL). There are 26 qualifications recognised at national level by the ES Institute of qualifications under the overarching Tourism professional family: (Then you have to select the professional family “hosteleria y turismo”): we can see there are 2 (level 1 and 3) specific qualifications described, namely: - Basic operations in private accommodations (EQF, level 1) - Management and cleaning in in private accommodations (EQF, level 3). If the private accommodation providers are legally registered and pay their taxes, have access to the training for employees for free granted by the Tripartite foundation for training and employment.

Formal education for owners, managers and employees are carried out at a vocational/ secondary and higher/university level by various institutions. - Secondary hospitality and tourism schools in Izola, Radovljica, Ljubljana, Radenci, Celje, Maribor and Novo Mesto, - Higher hospitality and tourism schools in Maribor, Bled, Ljubljana and Novo mesto and tourism faculties/colleges in Portorož, Bled, Ljubljana, Maribor and Brežice. The informal vocational training is organized by Tourism and Hospitality Chamber of Slovenia and other associations, local and regional tourist organizations and Slovenian Tourist Board. It is carried out by the specific area of training by qualified professionals with experience in practice.

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2.6 SELECTION OF PRACTICES

As part of the work implemented in the frame of IO1 and as initial preparation of the work to be implemented in the frame of IO2, Online publication of best practices we have included a selection of practices. This selection has been identified at partner country level, and focuses on:

existing courses, other learning material or training in the area of private tourism accommodation services

best practices of providers of private tourism accommodation services. We have included the following practices:

CROATIA The Croatian selection of 3 practices is oriented towards showing some examples from providers of private tourism accommodation services:

1. Croatian Association of Family Tourism Croatian Association of Family Tourism is a national organization of hospitality service providers in the household - private accommodation in Croatia, under the auspices of Croatian Chamber of Commerce. As private accommodation owners are usually families, this type of tourism is often referred to family tourism and, occasionally, family accommodation is also used to refer to private accommodation. Such situation is reflected in the name of association. The Associations brings together owners of rooms, apartments, holiday homes and campsites in the households, boarding houses and rural households. It operates through a network of regional (county) chambers and in cooperation with the network of tourism boards. Its main purpose to bring together, coordinate and educate private accommodation owners on the whole Croatian territory. The forerunner of this organization was founded in 1997 as an Expert Group of Family Accommodation at the County Chamber of Rijeka. Under the auspices of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce this national Association was founded in 2010, as the Association of Family Accommodation and Tourism. Four years later, it changed name into the Croatian Association of Family Tourism. In 2014 the rural tourism providers were also included. There are several benefits for the Association’s members:

- Access to a central contact place ("one stop shop") for renters is allowed; - Membership in local, regional and national Association’s chapters; - Effective lobbying towards public institutions (legislation, taxes, administration); - The exchange of experiences, knowledge and good practices; - Assistance in formation of clusters of competitiveness; - The introduction of quality standards, the establishment of clubs for production and

branding; - Joint promotion and - Preparation of projects for the support of EU and the Ministry of Tourism. - The Association has defined the following principles of private accommodation

services. Private accommodation should be: - Internationally recognized; - Thematised; - Oriented towards consumer segments;


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- Quality uniformed; - Environmentally aware.

The Association has defined and adopted strategic goals for increasing the competitiveness of Croatian tourism and the advancement of the offer of private accommodation. The goals are:

1. Systematical organization of local, regional and national working bodies; 2. Encouraging of entrepreneurial legislative framework and proactive fiscal

policy; 3. Introduction of models for financing private accommodation; 4. Raising the level of knowledge and skills of operators in the private

accommodation; 5. Fostering quality improvement and 6. Improvement of promotion and commercialization of private accommodation.

The Association is organized into 10 tourism clusters that cover the entire Croatian territory. These 10 clusters are assisted in organization and management by the regional Chambers of Commerce. The highest governing body of the Association is a Council made up of 2 representatives from each regional cluster. The Association also has the product clubs. The product clubs are: a) Apartments by the sea; b) Houses on the continent; c) Houses by the sea; d) Pensions; e) Camps in the household; f) Urban B & B; g) Cycle touring and accommodation without barriers and h) Integrated hotels. Each club is run by a member with relevant experience in that segment, and the awards are given to the best in each club. The Association has, so far, organized two National Forums for Family Accommodation, and they discussed current issues and offered educational training and networking with suppliers of goods and services for private accommodation. In the past two years the Association has also initiated and organized five Regional Forums of Private Accommodation and 19 workshops for private accommodation. In particular, the popular workshops were those run in cooperation with FINA – national financial agency, advising and instructing owners on financial management and taxation. In total, about 3.3 thousand participants took part in the FINA workshops.

2. Family apartments “Borova” Family apartments "Borova" are in the small, isolated and remote Borova bay on the island of Hvar, one of the popular south Dalmatian islands. The accommodation includes 7 apartments, 4 for two and 3 for up to 4 persons. The family is renting this accommodation for two decades. They record about 1,500 overnights with tourists from Germany (70%), Slovenia (15%), Slovakia (10%) and Austria (5%). Guest loyalty is high. The owners estimate that 80% are repeat, loyal guests. Upon arrival, guests are served a welcome meal and every Saturday social evening is organized, as an opportunity to socialize with the owners and other guests. As owners are also farmers, they serve their own wine (complementary), olive oil and grapes. Guests are also invited to join owners in fishing and short boat ride to the neighboring bays and places. Family apartments "Borova" can be found in the catalog of a German tour operator and they also have their own website (www.hvar-apartments–borova.com). However, most of the new guests come on the recommendation of previous visitors of the bay Borova. Accommodating mostly regular guests, the family members have developed a friendly and warm relationship with guests, often with frequent communication during the year.


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3. “Turist biro” –Split The company, simply "tourist office" in translation, is located in Split, an urban center of Dalmatia and a getaway to the most popular south Adriatic islands. It was established 40 years ago and it is specialized for booking private accommodation in Split and central Dalmatia. The team of four is responsible for booking 70 apartments and 30 rooms throughout the year, with additional 25 apartments and 20 rooms during summer months. They book about 6.000 overnights annually, and guests come mostly from France, Spain and Italy. "Turist biro" has its own website (www.turistibro_split.hr) through which it realizes about 20% of overnight stays, while 80% of overnight is through direct sales in the office (due, partly, to the exceptional location on the Split promenade) and through the tour-guides recommending the agency. However, recent trends are impacting their operations significantly. Namely, in recent years, the number of registered and categorized beds in private accommodation in Split has increased by more than seven thousand. Due to the increase in the private accommodation capacities there is lowering of prices of accommodation, unfair competition and avoiding social obligations (tax, local tax).

CYPRUS Kato Drys and Vavla Vilages of Larnaka Region (Garden Kamara House and Vavla Rustic retreat) Kato Drys and Vavla villages of Larnaka Region are good examples of private accommodation and agrotouristic experience with several organized activities. The villages with their agrotouristic lodges offer a more wide experience for the tourist. The experience that they offer includes museums, viniculture, churches and other sites and activities. In vavla, nature trails were created for exercise and enjoyment of the natural environment. The Garden Kamara House in Kato Drys village is a traditionally restored house, surrounded by an orchard with a variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables which have established in its complex “the Bee and Embroidery Museum” where one can learn about the region’s history and revive the past. Visitors can also participate in seasonal agricultural or apicultural activities such as fruit and nut picking, honey making, wine making or in the preparation of local treats. The Vavla Rustic Retreat is another example of best practice. This is a traditional stone house with the peaceful surroundings where one can visit the family's own fruit orchard to pick their own seasonal fruit. They were awarded the eco-certification from the internationally well known Green Key, and to date are one of only 11 accredited accommodations in Cyprus, and the FIRST agro tourism establishment to receive this honour. The owners are passionate about helping to develop sustainable, rural and eco-tourism in their region, and work with and support a number of businesses and organizations.


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GREECE Google’s new initiative called Grow Greek Tourism Online This initiative , has been launched in Crete under the cooperation of the Greek Ministry of Tourism, the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE). It aims at providing technical knowledge to tourism-oriented businesses using existing network tools that will help extend the tourism period beyond summer. Using digital tools professionals and potential professionals in tourism sector, can promote, advertise, manage and disseminate their services worldwide, even they are not at all experienced with tourism management and marketing. ‘’Google My Business’’ is a free of charge digital tool that optimizes stakeholders businesses’ presence on Google Search Engine and Google Maps, in an extremely simple way. Using digital marketing tools (Google Ad words) is not for free, but there are several discounts. The online platform’s language is greek. Furthermore, the Grow Greek Tourism Online (GGTO) team plans several nationwide events to commune its services, to discuss and identify particular users’ or potential users’ needs etc.

SPAIN Spanish bank to provide loan to members of BNB to improve their homes EVO Bank has signed in February 2016 a collaboration agreement with Airbnb, whereby the bank will lend up to 3.000€ without commissions to customers who rent their home through the Internet platform of the company, which allows individuals to book accommodations. Madrid and Barcelona will be the first cities in the pilot, which will be initially targeted to a base of over 10.000 customers of the EVO project. They may access the loan to better condition their homes and share them with others. The credit may include decoration or renovation of any kind, will last 15 months, exempt from fees. Airbnb will assume the financial cost of the loan. Customers may choose between renting their second home or any home they own, or can share a specific space inside their home. Customers who join the platform will have to keep their commitment active, and meet the conditions of the promotion for the next twelve months.


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Ecotur Ceres network

This is an initiative managed by the FUNDACIÓN ECOAGROTURISMO a private non-profit organization that was founded in 2005 as a result of long years of collaboration between associations and individual initiatives related to rural tourism, ethnography and environment. They are committed to the consolidation of previous agreements and collaborations with international and EU institutions related to

tourism, rural development and sustainable development, in order to participate in the promotion and dissemination of these criteria linked to the development of sustainable rural tourism in Spain. One of the fundamental objectives is the promotion and support of the conservation of natural spaces and rural development in our territories following the principles of sustainable tourism and responsible. Website: http://www.ecotur.es/agroturismo/menu/inicio_6_1_ap.html


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2.7 SPECIFIC CHALLENGES REGARDING THE TARGET GROUP, LEARNING NEEDS AND USE OF ICT

There are several groups of private accommodation providers that have been identified in the reports:

- The first group is permanent residents of a specific touristic destination usually formed by families with some kind of tradition hosting tourists;

- The second group is made by the owners of coastal town homes or apartments that have moved to major cities but still hold a second residence and rent it;

- The third group is people building or purchasing the second home and renting the entire home or extra rooms to tourists during summer.

The group most probably holding the least experience in hospitality (and sometimes even not officially registering their facilities in any way) is the third one, even though inexperienced hosts may also come from the second group. In the collection of data from the report there is a lack of information regarding the target group, mainly due to the lack of policy orientation towards private accommodation. However, in the Croatian report we find that even though there is an overall lack of insights into private accommodation owners’ profile, motivations, business practices and profitability, results from 3 studies show:

Residents of Croatian destinations are generally favorably disposed to tourists

Private accommodation owners general profile: o are relatively well educated 38% holding a university degree, o The average owner of a family accommodation is involved in this form of

tourism for 7 years of more, o for the owners of private accommodation 40% of the revenue from private

accommodations supplement the income from employment; 30% from retirement, while for 21% it is the main source of income.

They are “technology oriented”: 58% of the owners have their own web page of the accommodation facility, 63% of their sites is customized for the mobile devices, 85% of accommodation have wireless Internet access, and 97% facilities provide free Wi-Fi for customers.


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As regards the use of ICT, according to the Eurostat report Information society statistics - households and individuals (Data extracted in June 2015), ICT have become widely available to the general EU public, both in terms of accessibility as well as cost. A boundary was crossed in 2007, when a majority (55 %) of households in the EU-28 had internet access. This proportion continued to increase and in 2014 reached 81 %, rising by an additional 2 percentage points compared with 2013. In the graph below, we can see that the RoomstoVET countries, are a bit below average with the EU28 collated data, but they all show a huge increase of access:

Source: Eurostat: Internet access of households, 2009 and 2014 (% of all households)

The following map, in which we have spotted the RoomstoVET countries, shows that they all share the same percentage slot 71-81%:

Source: Eurostat: Internet access of households, 2009 and 2014 (% of all households)

Regarding Internet usage, as of the beginning of 2014, just over three quarters (78 %) of all individuals in the EU-28, aged between 16 and 74 years, used the internet at least once within three months prior to the survey date.


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According to the Share of individuals accessing the internet via mobile devices in selected European countries in 2015, by device (Statista), that surveyed methods used to access mobile internet in selected European countries in 2015: we can find below the percentage by country of:

Individuals who used the mobile phone network to connect the portable computer to internet Individuals used laptop, notebook, netbook or tablet computer to access internet Individuals used a portable computer or handheld device to access internet

In the table below we can see that there is a noticeable increase of users in all RoomstoVET countries accessing internet through “a portable computer or handheld device to access internet”:

CRO CY GR SLO SPAIN

Individuals who used the mobile phone network to connect the portable computer to internet

14% 3% 7% 26% 10%

Individuals used laptop, notebook, netbook or tablet computer to access internet

21% 22% 23% 27% 24%

Individuals used a portable computer or handheld device to access internet

50% 59% 44% 51% 67%

Source: Share of individuals accessing the internet via mobile devices in selected European countries in 2015, by device

Source: own elaboration from data Share of individuals accessing the internet via mobile devices in selected European countries in 2015


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If we go more in depth trying to analyse more digital indicators such as five main dimensions: Connectivity, Human Capital, Use of Internet, Integration of Digital Technology and Digital Public Service, the DESI report 2015 data shows that the picture of how digital countries are varies across the EU. In particular, most Rooms to VET countries are below average:

Source: Digital Agenda EU (DESI). 2015

The DESI 2015 shows that both the European Union as a whole as well as individual Member States are progressing towards a digital economy and society. However, it is to note that RoomstoVET countries are at different levels of development and are progressing at different speeds. According to their performance, DESI 2015 analysed countries are grouped in high, medium and low performance clusters:

Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands and Finland are the highest performing countries. They are not only ahead in the EU, but they are world leaders in digital. Outside of the EU28, Norway and Iceland also show performances that would place them in this high-performance group.

Belgium, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Luxembourg, Ireland, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Austria, France, Malta and Portugal belong to the medium-performance group. They are doing well in certain areas but still need to progress in others.

The Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Cyprus, Poland, Croatia, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania are the slow performing countries. They need to step up their performance in a number of areas and catch up with the rest of the EU.

As we can see there are not huge differences as Spain is placed in the medium group, while Slovenia, Cyprus, Croatia and Greece are in the low performance group.


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Special note on the sharing economy and its impact in Tourism Extract from EUROPARLIAMENT Briefing September 2015 The sharing economy and tourism Tourist accommodation (EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service Author: Maria Juul Members' Research Service PE 568.345 EN) Tourism services have traditionally been provided by businesses such as hotels, taxis or tour operators. Recently, a growing number of individuals are proposing to share temporarily with tourists what they own (for example their house or car) or what they do (for example meals or excursions). This type of sharing is referred to as the 'sharing economy'. It is not limited to tourism and can be found in many areas of social and economic activity, although tourism has been one of the sectors most impacted. Sharing goods and services between individuals is nothing new in itself. However, the development of the internet and, as a consequence, the creation of online platforms has made sharing easier than ever. In the past decade, many companies managing such platforms have emerged on the market. A well-known example of a platform is one on which people can book accommodation (Airbnb). The sharing economy has had a positive impact on tourism as well as a negative one. Its advocates think that it provides easy access to a wide range of services that are often of higher quality and more affordable than those provided by traditional business counterparts. Critics, on the other hand, claim that the sharing economy provides unfair competition, reduces job security, avoids taxes and poses a threat to safety, health and disability compliance standards. The response to the sharing economy remains fragmented in the EU. Some activities have been regulated at local level. Neither the European Commission nor the Parliament have taken an official position so far, though a recent report from the Transport and Tourism Committee touches upon the issue. The Commission has announced that it plans to assess the role of platforms in order to see if any changes or new legislation is needed.


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3. GAP ANALYSIS

We hereby present a summary of the GAP analysis by country and also a summary GAP

analysis SWOT table at the end of this section.

CROATIA


An attractive environment in the destination Long tradition of family tourism Developed awareness of the economic

potential of family accommodation The growing interest of the local population

for the provision of services of domestic produce

Increasing quality of offers of family accommodation

Defined institutional framework for family accommodation

Individual approach to the guest Hospitality and “warmth” Attractive micro locations of most of the

objects of family accommodation An increasing number of consumer segments

inclined to family accommodation Joining family accommodation providers

through the system of Croatian Chamber of Commerce

More active role of tourism boards in the commercialization of offers of family accommodation

Human potential

The lack of a comprehensive vision and strategy for the development of family accommodation

Poor quality of private accommodation facilities The lack of vertical and horizontal

cooperation/integration and disconnection of family accommodation at local and regional level

Pronounced seasonality of tourism demand Insufficient training of representatives of family

accommodation The uncontrolled/unregulated growth of private

accommodation capacity The lack of people willing to convert family

accommodation in the "main" source of their income

The lack of a marketing strategy of family accommodation

Unclear quality management system of family accommodation

The uneven quality of the offer The lack of a recognizable brand An increasing number of uniformed apartment

buildings Insufficient basic infrastructure – lagging behind

demand Lack of themed objects


In the long term favorable trends on the demand side for the family accommodation

The development of new forms of offers: hotels, small family hotels, diffuse hotels

Thematisation of the offer: growth in demand for "green" accommodation", growth in the segment of" special interests ": accommodation in a rural area, cyclists, active vacation

Educating the local population and family accommodation owners

More pronounced segmentation of demand in the sphere of "special" interests

The development of tourism in the rural environment Development of cycling tourism Modern forms of promotion and commercialization of

family accommodation The possibility of selling “at the doorstep” The establishment of clear spatial planning guidelines for

new construction Private-private and public-private cooperation The application of good international experience in

managing the development of family accommodation

• Insufficient control of the construction of holidays houses

• Insufficient control of the construction of unified apartments

• An overloaded infrastructure

• Lack of interest in family entrepreneurship

• Lack of interest of the owners of family accommodation for additional vocational training in tourism

• The low level of sensitivity of the owner of family accommodation toward the public good and the public interest;

• Loss of ambience;

• Reduction of loyalty guests who have stayed in the family accommodation

• The negative attitude of the authorities towards the development of family accommodation

• The impossibility of establishing an integrated destination value chain

• The image of cheap summer 'sun and sea' tourist destination


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CYPRUS


Very good climate conditions. Very good road network. Short distances among cities and major

attractions. Rich natural and cultural environment. Quality services. Excellent gastronomic experience. Diversity of activities (trekking, bird watching,

cooking, cycling, etc.). Most Blue Flags per capita in the world

(Cyprus Tourism Market Report, pg. 4).

Safe destination, if we take into account the unrest and instability of neighboring competitive destinations (Opening the Vault of Tourism in Cyprus, pg 18)

Limited availability of agrotourism packages. Main promotion of the “sun and sea” product and

increase of mass tourism. The “all inclusive” trend. Limited flights and connections. Absence on national carrier (Cyprus Airways has been

closed down). Seasonality. Expensive compared to other regional destinations

(Turkey, Egypt, Greece), (Cyprus Tourism Market Report, pg 10).

Funds for construction and renovation of tourist lodges.

Improvement of the perception value-for-money (Cyprus Tourism Market Report, pg 10; Opening the Vault of Tourism in Cyprus, pg 18).

Limited promotion of Cyprus in an electronic environment (Opening the Vault of Tourism in Cyprus, pg 21).

Limited formal education and limited knowledge on information technology and foreign languages of owners and employees of agrotourist lodges.


Enrichment of the current tourist product with alternative forms of tourism.

Enrichment of the current lodges, facilities and services provided.

Development of a strategy to approach and attract new markets.

Better utilization of EU funds. Syrian war, instability in regional Arab countries. Training opportunities for owners and employees. Incentive Scheme (by the Ministry of Energy, Commerce,

Industry and Tourism) for investments in the sustainable enrichment and upgrading of the tourism product to enrich and diversify the tourism product with the development of special products as well as the comprehensive upgrading and modernisation of existing tourism accommodation, (Cyprus Tourism Market Report, pg 10).

Cyprus adopted the “Open Skies” policy, an international policy that aims to liberalize the rules for aviation markets in an effort to extend both the number of originating airports, as well as aircraft operators (Cyprus Tourism Market Report, Second Edition, pg 4).

• Seasonality (main constraint to performance).

• Syrian war, instability in the wider region.

• Increase of mass tourism and “all inclusive” trend.

• Competition from other Mediterranean destinations (Turkey, Greece, Malta, Italy).

• Dependency on tour operators.

• Difficulties in accessing private finance.

• Focus of strategy on the “sea and sun” model.


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GREECE


Wide geographical dispersion of small accommodation units

Technology is expected to play a key role to the competitiveness of small private tourism accommodations at a national and global level, where competition is not a level playing-field (hotels vs. rooms to let)

Various associations, federations etc. Lack of expertise (regarding owners of small

private accommodations) Variety of digital tools

Inadequate broadband connection and network coverage at a regional level

Complete lack of network at specific areas, particularly the remote islands or mountainous villages

Low educational level of owners and stakeholders/ lack of technical skills (use of internet, social media etc.)

Lack of stable and comprehensive legal framework

Negative attitudes according which broadening horizons is not an asset in these jobs


Private tourism accommodation has become increasingly popular during last years. Tourists are more and more interested in small, private accommodation services, even if they are very expensive

Funding Schemes for SME’s etc. Economic crisis from the perspective of positive

changing

• Economic crisis that hinders investments

• Ageing population -especially at remote areas- non familiar to Internet

• Political determination


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SPAIN

STRENGHTS WEAKNESSES Attractive consolidated destination Alignment of public-private stakeholders Knowledge: management and sharing of

tourism knowledge. Talent and entrepreneurship: suitable training

and entrepreneurship framework. General awareness of the economic potential of

Private accommodations The growing interest of the local population for

the provision of services of domestic produce General high quality of private offer Launch of “customer Loyalty programme”

(“Fidelización España”) and also Individual approach to the guest as a culture

Attractive micro locations An increasing number of consumer segments

inclined to private accommodation Promoting a campaign to stimulate national

tourism demand Modulation of airport fees Human potential Promotion of innovation in destination

management

The lack of a comprehensive legal framework, vision and strategy for the development of private accommodation in Spain

Disconnection of private accommodations at regional level

Seasonality of tourism demand Insufficient training awareness of private

accommodation targets Insufficient training provision of private

accommodation targets The uncontrolled/unregulated growth of private

accommodation capacity The lack of a marketing strategy of family

accommodation Unclear quality management system of family

accommodation The uneven quality of the offer The lack of a recognizable brand The lack of languages of the average private

accommodation.


In the long term favorable trends on the demand side for the family accommodation

The development of new forms of offers: hotels, small family hotels, diffuse hotels

Thematisation of the offer: growth in demand for "sustainable" accommodation", growth in the segment of" special interests ": accommodation in a rural area, cyclists, active vacations..

Educating the local population and family accommodation owners

More pronounced segmentation of demand in the sphere of "special" interests

The development of tourism in the rural environment Development of cycling tourism Modern forms of promotion and commercialization of

family accommodation Alignment of public-private stakeholders cooperation

• Insufficient control of the development of privately held private accommodations (most of them going into a “black market economy”)

• The negative attitude of the authorities towards the development of private accommodations

• An overloaded infrastructure particularly seasonally

• Lack of interest of the owners of private accommodation for additional vocational training in tourism and language knowledge

• The impossibility of establishing an integrated destination value chain

• The image of cheap summer 'sun and sea' tourist destination


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SLOVENIA


Tourist Industry Associations as support at the different levels

Environmental labels in tourism from successful individuals

Increasing interest among secondary school students for the education in the field of tourism at the faculties and college level

Lack of knowledge and professional skills among accommodation providers

Lack of practical knowledge in the faculty/college study programs

Little interest for the improvement of knowledge and participation in seminars and workshops


professional experience of members of the tourism economy

the possibility of transferring good practice for all employee in tourism industry, especially for older people (in the field of ICT)

enthusiasm and quick learning of the younger generation in the tourism industry

• unregulated legislation in the field of room-renting: in force are several laws

• the black market of renting tourist rooms without paying taxes and statistic evidence

• the black market providers not paying taxes and with low level of education and other necessary skills that the statistics do not record


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COLLATED SWOT ANALYSIS


General awareness of the economic potential of Private accommodations

Perceived awareness of the need of updated learning provision in all countries researched

Homogeneous data on internet access, for which the proposed online approach allows for an increased reach of individuals, lower production costs than traditional courses and free of charge

Perceived potential of the proposed learning in the researched countries

A modular training system with small units seems to be a good option for the target

Different audience profiles with different needs

Limited internet availability in specific areas, particularly the remote islands or mountainous villages (e.g. in Greece)

Need to clarify issues regarding provision of training (place, duration, language, availability… etc.)


Easy access to Internet in most countries

Young adult population promptness to digital environments and technologies

Easy access to mobiles smartphones and computers of the target

Global increased awareness about sustainable tourism among the population, as a result of social and economic crisis

Online training as convenient option to fit personal and professional life of the target group (as in many cases it is not the main source of the family)

Global economic and social crisis

Lack of lifelong learning habits of the target

Lack of experience and trust in distance learning

Non homogenous levels of digital literacy

Cultural issues: lack of interest, motivation and habits concerning the quality improvement of their services

“Traditional tourism” offer aggressive marketing (all inclusive packages, tour operators…etc.)

Lack of funding in some cases


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4. SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS AND GUIDELINES

The Rooms2VET project aims to develop learning materials and a free, online training platform to help the providers of private tourism accommodation services make the most of their tourism activities or businesses and grasp the profit from the emerging sustainable and alternative tourism trends. The training platform will consist of 6 Modules, translated in all 5 project languages (English, Croatian, Greek, Slovenian, and Spanish) on different and equally important aspects: Module 1: Hospitality and service culture Module 2: Planning for success Module 3: Running your business day to day Module 4: Face-lifting your business Module 5: Creative and innovative products and services Module 6: Promoting and selling effectively

We have drafted the following recommendations for the development of Rooms2VET following IOs:

IO2 (best practices) IO3 (Needs’ Analysis) IO4 (Theoretical framework, curriculum, of the training program - designing the

outline, structure, scope, learning objectives) IO5 (Development of learning and training course) and IO6 (Creation of an online training platform and validation of the material and

platform).

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT: METHODOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL

IMPLICATIONS

Regarding the selected THEMES already identified in the proposal:

1. Hospitality and service culture - a general introductory course dealing with the importance of hospitality or customer care in general taking into account changing trends (i.e. greater diversity of guests, intercultural aspects and similar)

2. Planning for success - generally covering business plan (setting goals and targets), monitoring and controlling, examining and adapting to legal frameworks, formalising and getting certified for standards (safety, quality, sustainability, etc.)

3. Running your business day to day - focusing on operations and services (reception, housekeeping, food/beverage, accounting)

4. Face-lifting your business - dealing with interior decoration/design issue to reflect market demand and authenticity of the local place


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5. Creative and innovative products and services - essentially dealing with product development, including diversification of activities and services, by, among others, cooperating with other tourism product providers in a destination

6. Promoting and selling effectively - dealing with market communication, overview of tourism distribution system with a special attention to on-line promotion and sales.

We may also add:

• Include information on how you could find funding sources to renovate and decorate

your accommodation (Face-lifting your business),

• Place special attention to web 2.0 tools, as even though it has not been selected as key

issue in the proposal, it is considered an extremely relevant issue in the frame of

private accommodations nowadays,

• When planning for success, include learning on building up a budget according to

income/expenses that allow planning and thinking forward,

• Think of including a glossary, a basic dictionary on the key issues when running a

private accommodation service (think of using a wiki) including basic concepts such as

the “home atmosphere” which is regarded as one of the most important elements of

the attractiveness of this form of accommodation,

The variety of TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS which are used within a course is an

important ingredient to motivate learners. Due to the “relatively low” interest in attending

learning courses that has been reported, it is advised to support some guiding principles

proposal (in the frame of O4):

• Use of inquiry-based and problem-based learning approaches and inclusion of stories

and case studies as simple examples on stories and practices in which people can feel

identified, promoting Peer to Peer support and communication between learners. This

is particularly important for the online selection of Good practices in the frame of IO2,

which could be used as part of the learning if organised as such from the beginning;

• Accommodate multiple learning styles and contextualise learning to meet the needs

of private accommodation owners in the different national and regional contexts

involved;

• Provide authentic learning opportunities. Present the content in modular “learning

bites” that will be able to provide just in time learning

• Promote self-reflection through the provision of tutor support and guidance, as well as

keeping online journals

• Preparation of learning activities to be carried out either synchronously or

asynchronously


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And we may also add:

• Think of the possibility of including a Resources section as “further knowledge about the topic” including links to cases, multimedia materials, books or “further readings”, information about existing funding in your country, …etc. that would help the learners to feel more engaged.

• Think of the possibility of making up video tutorials and/or a user-friendly Learners’ handbook combining both information about the structure of the themes and modular “learning bites” and the technology to be used and their implications for the trainees. The idea is to make up a simple and trainee oriented information guide, a support tool to facilitate understanding;

• FAQ which will solve questions divided into sections (contents, technical

requirements…etc.).

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

We will comment here the major technological implications emerged from the national reports

carried out plus some recommendations emerged from

the analysed references.

As we have read in this report, regarding access to ICT the RoomstoVET countries, shows that they all the same percentage slot 71-81% of households having access to internet.

This is complemented by the data on the tools used when accessing the internet: the data shows important numbers in the RoomstoVET countries accessing internet through “a portable computer or handheld device to access internet”. Therefore, we strongly recommend organising the learning provision in “pills” compatible

with mobile devices such as Android (considering the economic implications as this was not included originally in the proposal). IO6, Creation of an online training platform and validation of the material and platform,

includes:

1. Design of the Online Learning and Training Platform and uploading of material

2. Testing of material through pilot workshops

3. Finalisation of material, changes & maintenance of Online Learning and Training Platform

We will comment here the major technological implications emerged from the research

carried out plus some recommendations by the author of this study.


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As initial starting point, we strongly advise the technology designers from R&DO as IO6

leaders, to work very closely and look for synergies with content designers from O3 leaders,

IZTZG (Croatia) and O4 leader – Olympic Training (GR), as key ingredient to success. It is also

advised to play special attention to the tourism High season calendars in the piloting

countries.

We will try in this section to provide some tips for designers before they prepare the online

website and platform.

Considerations for learning designers: We do not want to reinvent the wheel, so we will include here some tips, such as the 10 Ways to Improve Blended Learning Course Design, Erin Schreiner proposes on eHOW, customised and enriched, according to the results of the survey to teachers:

Integrate a Variety of Technologies

Don't rely on one technology option. Blended learning allows for the integration of computers, audio-visual tools and standard visual aids. Also mobile devices can be very useful. By using an array of technologies, you increase the likelihood that you reach all of your teachers.

Set Clear Expectations

Make it clear what learner should learn (that is, focus on learning outcomes and make the technology be adapted to these) as a result of the blended learning course. State your expectations at the beginning of the course, and remind your teachers of these expectations as you move through the lessons.

Adopt a Clear Organizational System

Blended learning courses often include an array of independent activities. To ensure that learners know what they need to do at each step of the way, organize the course carefully and provide the teachers with a syllabus or course outline, digital or print, so that they can keep track of their assignments.

Select Active Learning Techniques

It is easy for learners to become disengaged when learning independently. Integrate hands-on activities when learners meet in the platform (such as forums) to require that participant teachers actively participate in the lessons.

Offer Differentiated Learning

Blended learning affords you the opportunity to reach learners at their level. When designing your course, offer technological options to create lessons at a variety of levels. By having levelled lessons available, you can assign the lessons to high, medium and low level learners as necessary.

Tailor Teaching to an Assortment of Learning Styles

Everyone learns differently. Some benefit from visuals, while others thrive when presented with auditory information. As you design the course, also make sure you allow for technology to integrate an array of different delivery mediums into the course (video, audio, pictures, ppt presentations…) so that all learners can be successful, regardless of learning style preference.

Take Advantage of Online Resources

The Internet is rich in educational resources. Do not ignore this wealth of material. Instead, save time and effort by integrating online resources into both the classroom and e-learning lessons that allow technical options for a blended learning course.

http://www.ehow.com/list_6052828_10-blended-learning-course-design.html

http://www.ehow.com/computers/

http://www.ehow.com/internet/


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Offer Collaborative Learning Options

E-learning can be a solitary endeavour. Allow your students to benefit from working with others by offering collaborative learning options. Use collaboration both in the platform, by pairing or grouping learners, and also by using discussion boards and other e-communication tools.

Allow for Easy Communication

Learners should be able to easily reach tutors when necessary. Set up a simple system of communication to ensure that teacher learners do not become frustrated by lack of guidance or assistance.

Allow to use Multiple Assessment Methods

Do not always assess the learners in the same way. Integrate projects, quizzes and written assignments to ensure that learners’ deficiency in one area does not have a negative impact on their overall score in their blended learning course.

The flexibility in scheduling and format is critical to success, particularly in EU projects where

a variety of languages and contexts are involved. .

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PILOTING

We will finalise this section by including some considerations for the pilot training (IO6,

Creation of an online training platform and validation of the material and platform):

From previous experience in Pilots implemented in the frame of EU project, we recommend to

consider the possibility to hold 2 or 3 face to face sessions (recommended: at the beginning, in

the middle and at the end of the piloting) and using ad hoc evaluation grids to be filled in by

the participants, before and after the training. In the first face to face session we would also

recommend to make a simple initial exercise with the pilot participants to check what

motivates them the most and also to check their level of familiarity with the technology they

will have to use and try to adapt and customise as much as possible the course to the results

of this exercise.

In this frame, we also believe that the role of the responsible of the validation and reporting

of the piloting, Olympic Training, and its direct coordination with in each piloting country is

crucial as this requires a transformation process to that of learning facilitator.


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The following recommendations also go in this direction:

• Prepare and encourage the tutors in each country (to also guide the participant

teachers on the use of technologies (platform and mobile devices);

• Ask all the learners who have participated in the learning courses in all the sessions to

report orally on previous experiences and try to build on “good practices examples”

while trying to cope with the problems they may have.

• fill in ad hoc assessment forms and base each session on the results of the previous

evaluation results

Not all the learners will have the same profile and experience: the learning needs to be

customised as much as possible.

And finally we recommend taking a special attention to the translations and maybe even

holding a specific Skype meeting to debate about how to translate and adapt, and enrich

training contents with multimedia contents (videos, links, resources…etc.) in the countries

languages.


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REFERENCES

Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) Index. 2014. http://digital-agenda-data.eu/datasets/desi/visualizationsAvailable online at: EUROPARLIAMENT Briefing September 2015 The sharing economy and tourism Tourist

accommodation. EPRS - European Parliamentary Research Service Author: Maria Juul Members' Research Service PE 568.345 EN. Eurostat report Information society statistics - households and individuals (Data extracted in June 2015). Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Information_society_statistics_-_households_and_individuals Share of individuals accessing the internet via mobile devices in selected European countries in 2015, by device (Statista). Available online at: http://www.statista.com/statistics/377821/mobile-internet-usage-by-device-in-european-countries/


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ANNEXES

NATIONAL REPORT CROATIA

NATIONAL REPORT GREECE

NATIONAL REPORT CYPRUS

NATIONAL REPORT SPAIN

NATIONAL REPORT SLOVENIA

TRANSLATIONS OF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CRO

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GR

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ES

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SI

study on private tourism accomodations … on private tourism accomodations ... executive summary 3...

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