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Established in January 2008, TOUREG (Competitiveness and Knowledge in the Tourism sector) has the overall aim to improve the competitiveness and strategic position of the service sector and in particular the tourist-oriented sectors in various European regions. This will be achieved through the establishment of a platform for transfer of knowledge based on technological innovation and research in the tourist sector. TOUREG project is coordinated by the Directorate General for Research, Technological Development and Innovation of the Government of the Balearic Islands, and involves 6 regions from Spain, Portugal, Greece, Sweden, Bulgaria and Romania.
TOUREG is financed by the 7th FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME, under the specific Capacities Programme, through the Regions of knowledge initiative (ROK). Download the project brochure Where are we now So far, five meetings were organized, the kick off meeting in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) February 2008, the second project meeting in Chania, Crete (Greece) June 2008, the third project meeting in Lisbon (Portugal) January 2009, the fourth project meeting in Luleä (Sweden) July 2009, the fifth in Baile Herculane (Romania) January 2010 and the sixth in Athens (Greece) October 2010.
First phase: As a first step towards the expected project results, TOUREG has begun activities on 2 levels: the first one concerns a complete analysis of the R&D in the Tourism sector of each region which has been reinforced by SWOT analysis in depth. The second one, was the production of a Technology Map based on fieldwork that consisted of the identification of the main technologies presented in all the regions taking part in the project and also the needs of the SMEs related to the technology areas considered in TOUREG. Click here if you are interested in the Global SWOT Analysis Second phase: The results, in the vorm of two different reports (Synergies and complementary features on the tourist-oriented service sector, including an analysis of regional technological trends and a global analysis and differences among R&D public policies, and secondly, Identification of actions of mutual interest both at regional and at transregional level, including a Pre-feasibility analysis of potential projects, were published in the Download docs section of the homepage. Third phase: The earlier above mentioned Technological Map has been a privileged source of information for the next steps in the project which were; the creation of a Handbook on how to apply efficiently IT towards Tourism sector and a Technology Transfer Itinerary. Both results, were delivered successfully and will be presented in the project’s Final Conference in Palma de Mallorca on November 25th and 26th 2010, coinciding with FOROTEC, a Technological Pilot Encounter which brings together policy makers, researchers, technological suppliers, hotels and tourism SMEs, clusters initiatives, intermediate organisms, etc. at regional, national and European level. Fourth phase: Further activities are underway such as: a Report of Conclusions and Recommendations for future public R&D+I focused on the services sector, including a synthesis of priority lines of actions, identified in previous stages, which will contribute to improve competitiveness in the tourism sector. And also is foreseen, the consolidation of the “Research Driven Cluster”, by means of a Joint Action Plan which, in view of the preliminary analyses produced and of the priorities drawn up for action in all regions taking part, includes actions of mutual interest capable of being performed in the framework of other European initiatives, such as ERANET, CIP, etc. As far as regards communication: the TOUREG Project Brochure and TOUREG Newsletter have been published and dissemination activities were carried out during several events and conferences related to tourism topics Come to meet us again for the updates! Read our Newsletter
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