At the beginning of 2016, the EUROPETOUR team has successfully conducted the first-ever, European cultural tourism survey on qualification needs of stakeholders in rural cultural tourism among its members and networking partners from Bulgaria, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Spain, Poland, Germany and Austria.
During our past meeting in the Lower Austrian Mostviertel destination, we have discussed and presented all relevant conclusions from the EUROPETOUR survey. These results are now published in a report, available for download here.
Background & Methodology of the europetour survey
The background of the analysis was to disclose the training needs of those people active in rural cultural tourism across Europe. It has been rolled out in seven different languages (German/Austrian, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Romanian). The partnership managed to reach at least 3.400 stakeholders, with the survey having an average response rate of 12%.
Besides, the results have yielded a huge wealth of valuable, additional information interesting for stakeholders wishing to develop cultural tourism in their respective areas. The survey is neither exhaustive nor scientific, but reflects the knowledge and experiences of practitioners in the field. It displays the most relevant issues of the collected data and provides the basis for our next phase: Setting up a European rural cultural tourism training scheme for stakeholders in the field.
The Survey’s major outcomes
Based on the replies given by our stakeholders in rural cultural tourism, the survey’s three main conclusions are:
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There is a clear need to improve skills in marketing and public relations (PR). The use of different instruments needs in-depth consideration and professional expertise.
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There is a clear need for co-operation which goes further than the local or regional level.
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Business skills are in general not rated as a specific skill in which to improve competence. Their links to marketing instruments are not clear.
Please refer to the following SlideShare presentation with the full version of the report.
Up next: Development of training scheme for stakeholders in cultural tourism management
Based on the outcomes of the EUROPETOUR survey, a multi-lingual training module will be developed by our team, which will address the identified main needs. The target groups are staff of tourism agencies as well as cultural institutions. The training module will enable stakeholders in the field of tourism economy and culture to improve tourism market access and organise combined offers.
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