This Wednesday, the Centre of Excellence in Tourism Innovation (CoE in Tourism Innovation) held the inaugural meeting of its Academic Council made up of key university institutions in Catalonia specialising in tourism training and research across a range of fields.
At the meeting, the Academic Council was briefed on the projects currently being run by the two CoE in Tourism Innovation working groups on data analysis and talent management in tourism.
The Council is made up of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (School of Tourism and Hotel Management); the University of Barcelona (CETT-UB, Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy); the University of Girona; the University of Lleida; the Open University of Catalonia; the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Habitat, Tourism, Territory Institute); Pompeu Fabra University (TecnoCampus); Ramon Llull University (IQS School of Management), and Rovira i Virgili University.
The Academic Council is an advisory body which will help to guide project delivery under the CoE in Tourism Innovation in coordination with its sponsors. It will additionally drive partnerships between CoE in Tourism Innovation members in training, research and knowledge transfer to roll out new initiatives and also collaborations with other institutions with shared interests.
In terms of knowledge transfer, the advisory body will foster discussion of tourism-related issues by drawing up analysis papers and hosting debates, putting forward proposals for collaboration among its members and helping to plan public activities run by the CoE in Tourism Innovation. The Academic Council plenary will meet at least once a year and its member academic institutions may renew their involvement for successive two-year periods.
The CoE in Tourism Innovation is sponsored by the Eurecat technology centre together with the Directorate General for Tourism in the Government of Catalonia, the four Catalan provincial councils, Barcelona and Vila-seca local authorities and the leading businesses in the tourism industry and value chain, Barcelona Turisme, the Catalan Tourist Board, Advanced Leisure Services, Aquarium Barcelona, Avant Grup, Avoris, Baqueira/Beret, CaixaBank, CONFECAT, Fira de Barcelona, La Pedrera-Casa Milà, Guitart Hotels, La Roca Village, MedPlaya, Oh!tels, PortAventura World, ROC Roi and Sangulí Salou.
