UNWTO and Les Roches Marbella open the debate on talent and the competitiveness of destinations
PR No.: PR 17127
The Conference held in Marbella, Spain, is the continuation of two previous meetings held in Medellín, Colombia, and Bilbao, Spain, in 2015. In addition to presentations by experts in tourism training, the event included interactive sessions providing more than 200 participants with a unique platform to exchange ideas and experiences.
As UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai pointed out, “training in the tourism sector is key, not only in order to respond to the growing challenges of the sector, but also to be able to continue innovating and creating competitive strategies and products, since tourism is in constant evolution and development”.
According to Carlos Diez de la Lastra, CEO of Les Roches Marbella, “the aim of Les Roches is to prepare passionate professionals with a global perspective, an entrepreneurial spirit and an innovative mentality to lead and transform the sector”.
The Conference, which was held at the Marbella Conference Centre, was made up of five panel discussions that addressed different topics with the following titles: “Big Picture – Talent Development in Tourism”, “Human Capital Management – Key for Sustainable and Competitive Destinations”, “Where is the gap? Industries vs. Educational Institutions”, “Road to Success – Talent Development and Management for Tourism” and “New Trends in Tourism – Technology and Emerging Opportunities”.
Also, within the framework of this conference, the first Idea Competition for Talent Development was held with the participation of students from more than 20 universities around the world in order to present innovative projects to implement talent development strategies aimed at boosting the competitiveness of tourist destinations. The winners of this competition were the University of Wakayama (Japan), the Rey Juan Carlos University (Spain), CENFOTUR (Peru), and a special mention was given to Queensland University (Australia).
About Les Roches:
Les Roches Marbella is a private institution and the only Swiss school in Spain specializing in the field of hospitality and tourism. It offers degrees and postgraduate programmes in International Hotel Management and related sectors. All the academic programmes are taught entirely in English and combine management and business administration courses with professional internships in the best hotel chains and related companies, worldwide.
Additional Information:
Conference programme and list of speakers
Related events:
UNWTO Forum on Talent Development in the Tourism Sector: Investing in Youth, September 11, 2015, Medellín, Colombia
UNWTO Conference on Talent Development and Education in Tourism, 1-2 December 2015, Bilbao, Spain
Contacts:
UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org
UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org
