The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) successfully participated in the 1st Transnational Action of Mobility organized in the framework of the implementation of the European project “Tour–X”, in which the DAISSy – HOU plays an active role as the Greek partner. This Action was part of the initiative “Promoting the dissemination of results in the field of Tourism and in Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems, through collaboration and active participation of tourism enterprises and VET providers”, coordinated by ENAIP Veneto, the Italian partner of the Tour-X project and Vocational Education and Training Center based in Verona, Italy.

Specifically, the Action of Mobility took place from September 30 to October 2, 2025, on the occasion of the 57th Rice Festival in the Verona region. Its main goal was to explore the close relationship between vocational education, tourism, cultural heritage, and local development. Within this framework, seven (7) participants from four (4) countries — Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, and China — met in Isola della Scala for the first inbound mobility activity of the Tour-X project. During the event, they had the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the region and its rice tradition, discovering its potential for enhancing responsible tourism management.

The DAISSy Research Group of HOU was represented by Ms. Panagiota Polymeropoulou, Senior Researcher of the Group and of the Tour-X project, and Dr. Christos Pierrakeas, Professor at the University of Patras and Researcher at DAISSy-HOU. They actively participated in all sessions and, together with representatives of the Tour-X partnership, met with institutional and business stakeholders involved in organizing the  Rice Festival and promoting the local identity.

In conclusion, the 1st Action of Mobility of the Tour-X project successfully highlighted the crucial role of Vocational Education and Training in developing skills for the Tourism sector.

The Tour–X Project, a Center of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) initiative for the Tourism Industry, aims to foster excellence in this sector through a “bottom-up” approach. The project has a four-year duration (June 2022 – May 2026) and is co-funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union. It is implemented by a consortium comprising twenty-three (23) experienced partners, representing leading providers of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the field of Tourism, as well as Regional Authorities, from six EU Member States (Greece, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Portugal) and China.

The DAISSy – HOU, the Greek partner, serves as a key academic member of the transnational consortium. It participates in all project deliverables and is responsible for developing the “Quality Framework for Improving Quality in VET through Feedback Loops and Graduate Tracking Systems Development”, as well as for the “Creation and Maintenance of a Database System (Watch Tower)” addressing regional skill needs in the Tourism sector. At the same time, the DAISSy Research Group contributes to the effective implementation of the project’s activities in Greece by connecting relevant national stakeholders to ensure the broad exploitation of Tour-X results and the long-term impact of the project.

For more information about the Tour-X project of the DAISSy-HOU:

• Websites: http://daissy.eap.gr/en, https://tour-x.eu/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tourxcoves
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tourxcoves
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tourxcoves/

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

The DAISSy Research Group  of the Hellenic Open University (HOU)  participated in the 3rd Transnational Partners’ Meeting (TPM) of the “TOUR-X” European project, that was organized on 21st and 22nd May 2024, by the “European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training (EVBB)”,  project partner, in Brussels, Belgium. DAISSy-HOU was represented at the TPM by Achilles Kameas, Professor at HOU and Director of DAISSy as well as Panagiota Polymeropoulou, Senior Researcher of DAISSy-HOU.

The TPM provided a favorable basis for the discussion on the ongoing tasks as well as the activities foreseen in all work packages (WPs), putting emphasis on crucial parameters of success. More precisely, DAISSy-HOU being one of the five Greek project partners, is the task leader of the development of the “Quality Box” for increase of the quality in VET, through feedback loops and graduate tracking systems, as well as the creation and maintenance of a “Watch Tower” for regional skills needs in the Tourism sector. The Research Group is also actively involved in all TOUR-X deliverables, being in charge of the TOUR-X activities in Greece as member of the Greek Knowledge Triangle, leading the development of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) educational electronic platform and the development and maintenance of the Graduate Students’ Tracking System (GSTS) tool.

With regard to the TPM, Panagiota Polymeropoulou, Senior Researcher of DAISSy, delivered a presentation about the “Quality Box for the increase of the quality in VET through feedback loops and develop graduate tracking systems” and the Graduate Students’ Tracking System (GSTS) online platform setting the milestones and specific actions for partners involved, in achieving the key indicators of the task. The main objective of the TOUR-X tracking system is to collect feedback from Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Education Institution (HEI) students, graduates as well as final-year undergraduates. The system aims to provide insights into the effectiveness of educational programs, improve communication between education providers and employers, and support the continuous improvement of training programs and services, in the tourism sector.

TOUR-X is a four-year project (June 2022-May 2026), co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, that envisions to create excellence in Tourism through a bottom-up approach where the Education providers of the partnership will enhance their ability to adapt skills provision to everchanging economic and social needs. It is a Center of Vocational Excellence (COVE) Project for the Tourism Industry, which brings together twenty three (23) experienced partners, representing the most prominent VET providers, the Tourism sector as well as Regional Authorities from seven (7) countries (Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and China).

For more information about the TOUR-X project as well as other activities of the DAISSy-HOU:

• Websites: http://daissy.eap.gr/en/  and  https://tour-x.eu/
• Facebook: @DAISSyResearchGroup  and https://www.facebook.com/tourxcoves
• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/tourxcoves
• X (Former Twitter): https://twitter.com/daissy_research
• Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup  and https://www.instagram.com/tourxcoves/
• Email: info@daissy.eap.gr

The 2^nd Transnational Partners’ Meeting (TPM) of the TOUR-X European project took place on the 23^rd and 24^th of March 2023, in Dolo, Venice (Italy) and provided an excellent opportunity for discussion and exchange on the progress of the project deliverables and outputs.

The TOUR-X is a Center of Vocational Excellence (COVE) ERASMUS+ Project for the Tourism Industry that aims to enhance the ability of the education providers to adapt the provision of skills to everchanging economic and social needs by setting up Knowledge Triangles of VET providers, representatives of the business sector, and public authorities to collaborate better and contribute to regional development in the Tourism sector.

More specifically, during the 2^nd TPM, the TOUR-X partners examined the synergies with other projects and pact of skills. Also, they checked all information related to the study visit in Germany, focusing on the German Knowledge Triangle. Furthermore, they enjoyed working in groups to discuss the content of TourX’s “Hospitality Labs” ToolBox for Excellence. They exchanged thoroughly at the World Café on the strategic objectives of the TourX CoVE network, its mechanism of governance and communication flows, as well as the transnational activities to be carried together for the benefit of the VET excellence at the European level. They also agreed on the dissemination actions and planed the next steps based on the objectives and project schedule.

The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) is a Greek project partner, actively involved in all TOUR-X deliverables, that participated in the 2^nd TPM and was represented by Panagiota Polymeropoulou, Senior Researcher of DAISSy, who delivered a presentation about the quality box for increasing the quality in VET through feedback loops and graduate tracking systems. She explained the main aim, which is to promote the communication between VET and the labour market for adding to knowledge triangles of the regional areas involved in TOUR-X by tracking the careers of fresh graduates. In this way, providers can further improve their training programmes and services specifically for the tourism sector. A quality feedback loop will be developed within this framework, focusing on designing a tourism Graduate Students’ Tracking System (GSTS). Indeed, the ability to track graduates is also considered a core component of effective Quality Assurance systems as it provides a mechanism for gathering intelligence on skills utilisation in the labour market and placement rates. The discussion among the TPM participants was vivid since DAISSy had to note their opinions and proposals to incorporate them into the current GSTS development process.

The TOUR-X is a four-year project co-funded by the ERASMUS-EDU-2021-PEX-COVE program of the European Union. It is coordinated by the “AKMI ANONIMI EKPAIDEFTIKI ETAIRIA-AKMI SA” (Greece) with twenty-two (22) partners in six (6) EU member states (Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal) and China.

For more information about the TOUR-X project as well as other activities of the DAISSy-HOU:

• Website : http://daissy.eap.gr/en/, https://tour-x.eu/
• Facebook: @DAISSyResearchGroup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/daissy_research
• Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup
• Email: info@daissy.eap.gr

The TOUR-X is a newly approved Center of Vocational Excellence (COVE) ERASMUS+ Project for the Tourism Industry. It aims to enhance the ability of the education providers to adapt the provision of skills to everchanging economic and social needs by setting up Knowledge Triangles of VET providers, representatives of the business sector, and public authorities to collaborate better and contribute to regional development in the Tourism sector.

This will be achieved by applying a bottom-up approach involving twenty-three experienced partners representing the most prominent VET providers, the Tourism sector and Regional Authorities of the seven project countries Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and China. Greece is regarded as one of the leading European countries in tourism and will be one of the four project countries (along with Italy, Spain and Germany) where knowledge triangles will be formed, targeted to accelerate tourism development at a regional level.

The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) is a project partner in Greece and will be actively involved in all TOUR-X deliverables. Based on its long-term experience and valuable knowhow, DAISSy-HOU will contribute to the creation of TourX – Transnational Ecosystem for VET Excellence in the Tourism Sector, the design of a TourX “Hospitality Labs” ToolBox for Excellence and will promote the TOUR-X activities and deliverables through its network of stakeholders and media.

A concrete example of an exciting dissemination action of DAISSy-HOU is linking the TOUR-X project within the “ERASMUS DAYS 2022” institution! In particular, the TOUR-X presentation was included in the webinar entitled “Digital competences in a cutting edge role for the Culture and Tourism professionals” organized by DAISSy-HOU online and in Greek (Thursday, 13^th October 2022, 19.00-20.30 Greek time). The event focused on what digital transformation implies in tourism and culture and the development impact of the respective professionals.

• Foteini Gatomati, Researcher of DAISSy-HOU and Project Manager of TOUR-X, delivered a speech about the milestones of the project and interacted with the participants through a vivid sharing of views and attracting the interest of academics, researchers as well as professionals from various sectors of activity such as education, local government, culture, tourism, etc. The event was included in the “DAISSy Days 2022” initiative organized by the DAISSy-HOU to celebrate the “ERASMUS DAYS 2022”. This is an innovative initiative of the DAISSy-HOU, sharing a valuable experience in the implementation of European projects, including numerous currently ongoing projects funded by the ERASMUS+ EU program.
• The TOUR-X is a four-year project co-funded by the ERASMUS-EDU-2021-PEX-COVE program of the European Union. It is coordinated by the “AKMI ANONIMI EKPAIDEFTIKI ETAIRIA-AKMI SA” (Greece) with twenty-two (22) partners in six (6) EU member states (Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal) and China.

For more information about the TOUR-X project as well as other activities of the DAISSy-HOU:

• Website : http://daissy.eap.gr/en/, https://tour-x.eu/
• Facebook: @DAISSyResearchGroup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/daissy_research
• Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup
• Email: info@daissy.eap.gr

From the 4th to the 6th of July, the partners of the Tour-X project had the opportunity to meet in the kick-off meeting of the project that took place in the Golden Age Hotel in Athens, Greece.

AKMI SA, the coordinator organization of the project, hosted the meeting and Mr. Rodopoulos, AKMI’s president, warmly welcomed the participants. A welcome note by the Greek Minister of Tourism, Mr. Kikilias followed, while the Governor of Attica, Mr. Patoulis sent his own message through a video.

The 23 partners of the Tour-X project represent Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, and China. The participants spent 3 days of meeting exchanging views on how to better collaborate on the ambitious project of Tour-X together.

The Tour-X project brings together VET providers, Regional Authorities, Market representatives, Higher Educational Institutions, and 4 networks to bring excellence in the Tourism sector on a regional and transnational level. Hellenic Open University with DAISSy Research Group is one of the partners of the project and will hold a leading role in specific implementation tasks.

Tour-X is a Center of Vocational Excellence (COVE) Project for the Tourism Industry that will run for 4 years (2022-2026). The project aims to:

• Foster national and transnational collaboration through the establishment of TourX Transnational Ecosystem for Excellence in Tourism;
• Increase skills anticipation in the Tourism industry;
• Increase sectoral employability;
• Increase of investments in tourism-related human resources.

More information about the Tour-X project and the activities of DAISSy Research Group:

• Website   : http://daissy.eap.gr/en/projects/ & https://tour-x.eu/
• Facebook: @DAISSyResearchGroup & https://www.facebook.com/tourxcoves/
• Linkedin   : https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/tourxcoves
• Twitter     : https://twitter.com/daissy_research
• Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup &  @tourxcoves
• Email        : info@daissy.eap.gr