Start of the training program on climate-friendly product design for tour operators

Know-how on "climate-friendly product design" through a tailored training program

As part of the Futouris project "Climate-friendly product design for tour operators" in collaboration with the NIT and Forum anders reisen, a comprehensive training program was developed in cooperation with training partner mascontour, which offers tour operators practical tips and tools for designing and managing their products in a more climate-friendly way. The program is aimed at employees from product management and all other stakeholders involved in the product creation process. The aim is to provide them with the necessary know-how for climate-friendly product design.

Contents of the training program

The training program consists of a mixture of in-house and cross-company webinars as well as an e-learning course, which is divided into four modules. The program is supplemented by a practical task that is completed by all participants at the end.

The aim of the program is to raise employees' awareness of climate protection while also providing them with concrete tools and measures to improve their current products to make them more climate-friendly. In addition to the basics of climate change and its impact on tourism, the training program also provides specific tips and tools. These should help participants to design their own products along the tourism value chain in a climate-friendly way and to market and communicate them successfully.

Kick-off event kicks off e-learning series

The training program was launched on 19 August with a virtual kick-off event, which heralded the start of the accompanying series of webinars and e-learning modules. By mid-October, more than 80 employees of the pilot companies DERTOUR Group, Hotelplan Group, Chamäleon, Gebeco, Reisen mit Sinnen, NEUE WEGE Reisen and drp Kulturtours will have completed the program and thus taken a significant step towards climate-friendly product design.

Outlook for the project

In the current project phase, the focus is on familiarizing the employees of the pilot companies with the approaches developed and applying them in practice. Following this, the instruments and measures developed will be tested for their effectiveness in a comprehensive practical test in the companies' product management departments. The aim is to achieve measurable improvements through product portfolio analyses, the identification of emission drivers and the development of specific reduction paths.

The knowledge gained and solutions developed will be published after the project is completed and made available to the entire industry in order to promote broad application. The project thus makes an important contribution to the climate-friendly transformation of the tourism industry.