Summer school to focus on sustainable tourism

Professor Harold Goodwin, an expert in sustainable tourism at Leeds Met, will speak at the PM4SD European Summer School, which is to be held at the University of Naples from 8-12 July.

The event will gather tourism policy makers and industry representatives from across the globe and will address the professionalisation of sustainable tourism project management.

Researchers from the International Centre for Research in Events Tourism and Hospitality at Leeds Metropolitan University are project partners for the summer school and have been instrumental in developing the programme. As Dr Xavier Font, Reader at Leeds Met, explains: "Tourism is the third largest European industry and one of the few sectors resilient during difficult economic times. Although the EU is promoting it as a vehicle for jobs and growth creation, tourism is rarely a strategic priority when it comes to funding allocation. Being part of the PM4ESD team means we can finally acknowledge the shortcomings of tourism donor funded projects because we have a methodology to improve effectiveness."

PM4SD is the adaptation for the tourism sector of project management methodology PRINCE2; Projects In Controlled Environments. PM4SD is the first Sustainable Tourism Project Management certified methodology based on efficiency management and focused on benefits, while involving donors throughout the project cycle life. In its pilot phase, PM4SD has already been taught in Jordan, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Italy and United Kingdom at a foundation level to 100 international tourism project managers representing 126 tourism organisations from 15 countries and 84 professionals are now certified in this methodology.

Donors are reticent to support tourism investments, partly because of the lack of socio-economic impact data. Transparency and measurable benefits are needed more than ever to enable the European tourism industry to benefit from this "envelope" to design and implement sustainable tourism policies in favour of the local tourism communities.

International donors - UNEP, European Commission, EIB, GIZ, Euromed Heritage Programme - and a wide audience representing the international tourism stakeholders, from policy makers, academics to entrepreneurs coming from 15 countries, are travelling to Naples from the 8-12 July to express this common concern, explore how PM4SD can contribute to monitor the benefits of Sustainable Tourism funded initiatives and build up the Naples Declaration.

The Summer School will include a practitioner Training Course targeting 25 PM4SD certified Project Managers, a public conference gathering High-level speakers on tourism management including Professor Harold Goodwin from Leeds Metropolitan University and two parallel thematic workshops: De?ning success in project management and leadership models and management skills.