The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) responded to the invitation of the Regional Development Fund of Attica and actively participated in the forum entitled “The Greater Athens Region – DMMO Forum”, organized by the Destination Management and Marketing Organization (DMMO) of the Region of Attica. The event took place on March 27, 2025, at the Athenaeum InterContinental Athens hotel, attracting key institutional and business representatives from the tourism ecosystem.
It is noteworthy that the forum served as a starting point for a continuous and meaningful dialogue among tourism stakeholders, marking the beginning of a new era of strategic cooperation and sustainable destination development. Within this context, and in a panel dedicated to sustainability in tourism and thematic products, critical issues of competitiveness and stakeholder collaboration were highlighted.
Specifically, the DAISSy Research Group of the HOU was represented by Ms. Panagiota Polymeropoulou, Senior Researcher of the Group, who actively participated in the discussion that followed, alongside Mr. Evdokimos Fregoglou, DMMO Project Coordinator, and Mr. Georgios Kormas, CEO of “Nea Metropolitiki Attiki S.A.”
More precisely the DAISSy-HOU and the Regional Development Fund of Attica are partners in the transnational consortium of 23 member organizations implementing Tour-X, a European project of the Center of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) for the Tourism Industry, aiming at establishing excellence in the sector, through a bottom-up approach. DAISSy-HOU, along with the other educational providers and member organizations of the consortium, will enhance their capacity to adapt skills provision to the ever-evolving economic and social needs of the tourism sector.
Within this framework, a regional collaboration network called the “Greek Knowledge Triangle” has been established, where the DAISSy Research Group plays a pivotal role. This network brings together Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers, business sector representatives, and public authorities to collaborate more effectively and contribute to regional development in tourism.
In this spirit, the forum served as a valuable opportunity for DAISSy-HOU to meet in person with other Greek partners in the Tour-X project and, at the same time, to highlight the relevance of the topics discussed to the activity areas of the European initiative. Indeed, and considering the perspective of Tour-X priorities, the forum underscored the power of partnerships, the importance of strategic information sharing, and the promotion of sustainability, green and digital transformation initiatives, all aimed at evidence-based decision-making. Special emphasis is put on fostering new synergies among stakeholders—through quality charters, memoranda of cooperation, and thematic clusters—that strengthen collective action and interconnectivity.
Tour-X is a four-year (June 2022- May 2026) project, co-funded by the ERASMUS+ program of the European Union. It has been implemented by a Consortium of twenty-three (23) experienced partners representing the most prominent VET providers, the Tourism sector and Regional Authorities of the six (6) EU member-states (Greece, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain) and China, that the project brings together.
The DAISSy-HOU is a Greek partner, involved in all project deliverables and in charge of the “Quality Box for the increase of the quality in VET through feedback loops and develop graduate tracking systems” and the “Creation and maintenance of a Watch Tower for regional skills needs in the Tourism Sector”. In parallel, the Research Group contributes to the effective implementation of the project activities in Greece, embracing also several respective stakeholders, aiming at the multiple exploitation of the Tour-X results and the impact of the project.
For more information about the Tour-X project as well as other activities of the DAISSy-HOU:
- Websites: http://daissy.eap.gr/en, https://tour-x.eu/
- Facebook: @DAISSyResearchGroup, https://www.facebook.com/tourxcoves
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/tourxcoves
- Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup, https://www.instagram.com/tourxcoves/
- Email: info@daissy.eap.gr