<< Background >>[MOTIVATION TO APPLY]The hospitality industry is a major source of revenue for Europe, offering jobs to more than 8 million EU citizens (https://bit.ly/3nynTiO) and the tourist accommodation sector’s popularity, in particular, has been steadily increasing, becoming a valuable pillar for the European economy (https://bit.ly/3jDBNPK). Upon the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the EU tourism has been plagued as it dropped by 61% (Eurostat, 2021) negatively impacting the hospitality industry. Accommodations located in rural areas were rather affected by this decline, as they had already been facing challenges due to limited access to training. HERE4you aims at restoring balance as fast as possible, by acting towards attracting tourists to rural European areas. To achieve that, hospitality accommodation owners and employees will acquire the essential skills to improve guest satisfaction and offer unique experiences to tourists. Since raising environmental awareness has become a focus in Europe over the past years and travellers demand more choice regarding ecotourism options (https://bit.ly/3FCmzE2), a very efficient way to attract tourists while protecting the environment is by offering alternative, eco-friendly activities near the accommodation unit.[NEEDS ADDRESSED]Recently, there has been an increasing need for the introduction of new training standards in the hospitality industry due to the numerous newcomers entering the sector as a result of the job displacements and staff shortages that the pandemic brought about (https://bit.ly/3CjF1iv). For the hospitality sector to get back on its feet, quick and immediately usable training solutions that equip hospitality professionals with the essential skills need to be developed. Current needs of the industry include basic service skills and communication between teams. HERE4you will tackle this need by teaching English language and service skills to hospitality professionals, leading not only to improvement of the communication between the staff and the guests, but also to the promotion of international staff mobility within the sector by increasing awareness of the importance of speaking English in accommodation units. Especially in rural areas, where people have limited access to training options, staff upskilling will open the way for new opportunities, such as more revenues and increased mobility. To this direction, another major challenge that needs to be tackled in the hospitality industry is the need for increasing digital competence among the sector’s professionals. Bearing in mind that today’s tourists book accommodation and arrange their vacation mostly through digital means (Wang et al., 2016) the emphasis on employees’ skills to respond to these trends is becoming increasingly important. The current project will help new and existing hospitality professionals in rural areas to become digitally empowered to attract more guests, build strong relationships with them, and become competitive in the global market. Finally, considering the global environmental crisis and the fact that “Europe faces environmental challenges of unprecedented scale and urgency”(https://bit.ly/3jDkdv8), any step towards sustainability is considered valuable and of utmost importance. The European Union, in the context of developing a strategy for sustainable tourism, highlights the importance of promoting ecotourism and rural tourism – especially in the post pandemic era (https://bit.ly/3b3Xvrx). Moreover, ETC sees COVID-19 as a unique opportunity to redefine tourism in Europe and permanently steer it to a more sustainable direction (https://bit.ly/3Ec6QKs). Considering the above, HERE4you will equip the hospitality professionals in rural areas with the knowledge and skills to promote ecotourism in their region. In this way, they reinforce environmental protection and sustainable tourism while promoting their businesses and supporting their local economy by attracting ecotourists.<< Objectives >>HERE4you will develop a complete, web-based training course for hospitality professionals focusing on boosting their English language and service skills, their digital competence and their environmental awareness along with creating an interactive, role-playing game environment aiming at knowledge retention and an interactive mapping tool demonstrating accommodation units and ecotourism possibilities in rural European areas accompanied by an Eco-Guide with instructions on how to use this tool to make the most out of it. Accommodation unit owners and employees will have access to a free, innovative, easily accessible upskilling methodology no matter their geographical location or socioeconomic education. Moreover, VET educators will possess a strong, digital training tool for providing students within the hospitality sector with hands-on, simulation-based training.HERE4you has as main objective to promote the upskilling of hospitality employees working in rural European areas by offering a training approach that entails introduction of hybrid skills, retention through simulation, and development of a new interactive tool with instructions on how to use it. Upon completion of the training, learners will be able to offer a unique service experience to their guests and promote their businesses worldwide while offering environmentally friendly entertaining options. This will attract more tourists and support their local community.In terms of specific objectives, HERE4you will serve the following:- Raising awareness regarding the importance of communication, service, digital and environmental training and upskilling in the hospitality sector, especially in rural European areas.- Providing hospitality professionals and VET institutes with a complete, open access e-learning course, developed to pass new skills to new and existing members of the hospitality sector.- Developing an alternative training approach that promotes skill retention through simulation and role playing on Minecraft.- Reinforcing access to high quality, effective and inclusive training in the digital era regardless of one’s location or socioeconomic situation. - Promoting ecotourism and sustainable activities in rural European areas to tourists worldwide. - Equipping hospitality professionals with the skills to advance their businesses while promoting and supporting local SMEs, rural and ecotourism centers.<< Implementation >>HERE4you will deliver a new training standard for the hospitality industry to be used both by individual professionals and vocational centers that offer hospitality and management programs, comprising an e-learning course, a simulation game to be performed in a digital learning environment and a detailed guide with information on how to utilize an interactive mapping tool to promote ecotourism activities. This will be achieved through a series of constant collaboration between subject matter experts (aka hospitality professionals and environmentalists), game developers to first identify the needs and set the learning objectives, and later implement them in a virtual environment. Role playing helps trainees remember their experiences while gaining new knowledge, so simulation will create everyday working challenges for them to solve within Minecraft. Apart from facilitating the improvement of English and service skills, the game will also familiarize them with the use of digital technology and boost their confidence. Project activities comprise:- National reports developed by the participating countries which will work as a framework presenting best practices, weaknesses and needs for improvement as perceived by hospitality professionals in rural areas. The reports will enlighten the public and raise awareness about the immediate need for staff upskilling in the industry.- The development of an Essential Skills Pack e-learning course: The ESP e-learning course aims at providing a complete solution to hospitality professionals in rural areas by improving their English language and service skills, helping them develop digital competence and promoting environmental awareness. The online, asynchronous lessons will be accessible from everywhere and at any given time.- Minecraft Hotel World: A dedicated custom Minecraft world to help learners retain and practice the knowledge previously gained through elaborated hospitality challenges in the context of a mission to be accomplished.- Mission: The complete game scenario describing the non-player characters (NPCs), the game elements, the walkthrough introducing the different game areas and tasks, the after the game practicing session. - Mapping Tool: the interactive mapping tool will exhibit ecotourism options in various rural European areas and accommodation units that are located nearby.- Eco-Guide: a guide with detailed instructions will be created regarding how to register a hotel in the mapping tool and the ways to combine accommodation with eco-friendly activities.- The results will be tested first internally and then an improved version based on the results of the testing will be subjected to a series of validation activities with the involvement of representatives from the direct target group, mainly professionals in the hospitality industry, ecotourism professionals and VET instructors.- Based on the conclusions of the validation exercises, a final release of the results will be provided towards the end of the project.- A series of Multiplier Events (5) to generate awareness about the launch of the HERE4you project.- Roll out of the results<< Results >>HERE4you will encourage inclusive training focusing on hospitality employees in rural European areas based on the need for communication and service upskilling, as well as digital and ecotourism training in the hospitality sector.Expected tangible outcomes comprise the following:- Essential Skills Pack course will contain modules that will help hospitality professionals to acquire the target skills (improving English language & service skills, developing digital capabilities, and raising ecotourism awareness). - Hotel Minecraft World, enriched with resource packs and mods which will allow interactive, role-playing training.- HERE4you Interactive Map, an interactive mapping tool that will provide accommodation and ecotourism activities available in rural European areas.- An Eco-Guide which will provide interested parties (rural accommodation unit owners, NGOS, environmental organizations, SMEs) with instructions on how to use the interactive mapping tool to register and promote their business.Apart from the direct benefits that are related to the upskilling of hospitality professionals, HERE4you will also:- increase awareness regarding environmental protection and promote sustainability - socioeconomically support rural areas by attracting more tourists - support inclusion, as innovative training methods will become available to people in remote rural regions who face education, training, and employment barriers