E-KITour Erasmus Project

Project Title

E-KITour

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The project proposal aims at launching a transnational training program devoted to European rural tourism providers. It is, an online self-learning program which can help SMEs to achieve more effective operation through online presence and communication. Nowadays enter to the digital market is essential for small companies on remote, marginalized, rural areas, in order to be competitive on the market. The online training program can help for deepening the knowledge of stakeholders in the following areas :
– know how to create a web site and maintain it
– know how to use content management system;
– know how to use search engine optimisation;
– know the potential of social media and create online marketing campaigns
E-kitour is foreseen to be targeted to European context and SMEs operating on tourism sector (or other services sector), especially in rural areas, and it fits with the specific feature of the European market, where the small size and wide variety of specific tourist assets and attractions require a broadly extended communication channels, in order to cope with the competitiveness of international market. The training program could be easily adopted by vocational training schools, which have programs for small services providers. E-kiTour training program is developed for small services providers also according to ECVET guidelines. The European Credit System in Vocational Education and Training – ECVET is useful to determine the Learning Outcomes expressed throughout the developed training programme. Learning outcomes is what learner knows, understands (skills) and is able to do (competences), after having completed a learning process. One of the main objective of the project was therefore to develop the European tourism sector, through innovative use of the digital market, taking advantage of the multiple possibilities offered by the Internet, and going towards digital agenda goals. But in the track of the project, we realized that most models of the training program could be adapted for any small services providers.
Over the entire period this project had 8 partners, but one of them the SE1 Media Ltd from the UK ended up into its withdrawal and replacement with Inova Consultancy Ltd (again from the UK). All partners had experience in the field of tourism and education and training and are representative of significant European geographical areas such as: South, West and East Europe (Italy, Lithuania, Greece, and United Kingdom, France, Spain).
Among the expected results in the short term, during the development of the project:
– Development of basic ICT skills of rural tourism providers, so that they learn how to handle daily challenges offered by the web ;
– Development of training modules, available through a special platform and remaining beyond the end of the project;
– Capacity of TGs to develop tools and web-marketing strategies, both in the short and in the long term.
The expected impact was to trigger exponentially the acquired competences, so that TGs can increase their skills independently, and can thus be able to achieve a competitive advantage in terms of acquired skills, know- how and economic benefit with a positive impact on their surrounding environments. The expected impact to the stakeholders and TGs consists of:
– Compliance with professional skills required by contemporary trends;
– Diminishment of digital divide;
– A clear step forward in the direction suggested by the European Commission, promoting accessible tourism and exploitation of alternative forms of tourism.
The Project has 2 Intellectual Outputs, made of the following activities:
I.O.1
A1: Methodology
A2: Insight to the target group
A3: Training concept and development
A4: ECVET
I.O.2
A1: Development and main features of the platform
A2: Pilot test
A3: Online marketing strategy projects
The project aims was a training program, helping the small tourism providers to learn how to emerge in the vast sea of the web by using the full potential offered by the Internet and social media, still today underutilized by most of the tourism companies, especially the small ones. Project results are developed to provide rural tourism business and services owners, with the necessary instrument to develop their web-marketing strategy. Project final result, the online training program, consist of 9 modules and 49 tutorials and is accessible on www.ekit.avaca.eu. Every partner in the pilot activities had involved representatives of the target groups from their countries and made the total number of 422. The coordinator ensures,that the platform will be available free for every visitor for at least 3 years after the end of the project.
Multiplier events helped to disseminate the project results and had a huge success – 278 attended in 6 multiplier events in Lithuania, Italy, Greece and UK. P7 in addition organized 5 webinars for French, Spanish and international audience and had 14 participants.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 260244 Eur

Project Coordinator

LIETUVOS KAIMO TURIZMO ASOCIACIJA & Country: LT

Project Partners

• AVACA TECHNOLOGIES CONSULTING, INFORMATICS AE
• Kauno mokslo ir technologiju parkas
• SE1 MEDIA LIMITED
• EUROGITES – FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DE TOURISME RURAL
• FEDERTURISMO CONFINDUSTRIA
• EUROCREA MERCHANT SRL
• INOVA CONSULTANCY LTD