National Tourism Organizations’ online training offer. Switzerland Travel Academy Case Study

A large number of studies have been undertaken so far both by academic researchers and by communities from the industry on the use of the Internet for educational purposes. However, very limited research has yet been done on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as educational and training modes within the hospitality and tourism field. Travel agent training, certification processes and the use of ICTs to deliver training to the travel trade have been largely excluded from previous academicresearch.This study aims to address this research gap in order to understand the range of e-learning in the tourism field. It explores the use of e-learning courses created by nationaltourism organizations for the education and certification of their travel trade partners. This research will present the managerial perspective and will evaluate one of the best cases of e-learning courses presenting tourism destinations – the Switzerland Travel Academy.This paper will present the overall cycle of the course design, looking in particular at how the e-learning course has been designed, developed, implemented and assessed.Switzerland Tourism’s motivation for having such a training tool, the history of the training platform, management structure and usages will be discussed as well

E-learning on tourism destinations. The case of Ticino Switzerland Travel Specialist course

While Information and Communication Technologies have offered Destination Management Organizations the possibility of reaching tourists and prospects in a direct way, dis-intermediating such communication, they can also provide a suitable platform for involving travel agents and better preparing them to sell a specific destination through ad-hoc designed e-learning courses. This paper presents one such online course –Ticino Switzerland Travel Specialist (TSTS)– published by the tourism office of Ticino, a Swiss canton, in order to train travel agents on the destination itself. While the goals and structure of the course are briefly outlined, the evaluation process is described in detail, especially when it comes to the experiences and perspectives of participants. Results show that e-learning courses play an important role in the different strategies used by professionals in order to obtain knowledge about a destination and that those who finish the course and getthe TSTS certificate are more likely to study in the office, also investing working hours. As a consequence of doing the course, more than half the participants visited the destination’s official website, discussed the destination itselfwith their colleagues, and suggested the course to colleagues

Independent e-learning offers in Tourism and Hospitality. In search of a map and possible quality indicators

E-learning offers in the tourism and hospitality sector have been investigated, recently and four main types of courses have been identified, according to their provider: Academic,Destination Management Organizations, Corporate, and Independent. While for other types several studies are available, there is a lack of research when it comes to the online independent courses. This study focuses on e-learning courses issued by independent providers: they include training offers of very different nature, e.g.: language trainings for waiters, food and wine matching courses, sustainability communication training, cookingfor celiac people, etc. The results of this exploratory study provide an initial map of such educational offers; it discusses also some inferential indicators of satisfaction expressed by the users on social media, which may provideuseful insights for the identification of possible quality indicators of tourism-related online independent courses

Editorial: Fashion communication: Between tradition and digital transformation

We are happy and thrilled to introduce this thematic section of Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS), devoted to Fashion Communication. It was about two years ago when we first discussed the idea in Madrid: then we got the approval by SComS Editors, published the call, and eventually secured the outstanding collection of papers you have in your hands (or on your screen). A long and enriching journey, full of interactions, conversations, views and reviews, a journey that makes the scholar’s work so fascinating (even if, sometimes, not that fashionable)

The Role of Tourism Destinations within the Online Presence of Fashion Weeks

Special events, if well organized, assist a tourism destination to improve its image and to attract new visitors. Though there is an emerging research on the connection between tourism destinations and fashion events, very few is known about how online presence of tourism destinations is framed with the help of established fashion events.The purpose of this research is to study four primary destinations holding their respective major fashion weeks accordingly: New York and “New York Fashion Week”, London and “London Fashion Week”, Milan and “Milan Fashion Week”, Paris and “Paris Fashion Week”.This research identifies the role of tourism destinations in the online presence of the four primary “fashion weeks”. To do so, two converging analyzes are done: on one hand, the websites and online presence of the fashion weeks are analyzed, to assess tourism related content; on the other hand, the websites of Destination Management Organizations at the city level are inspected, to assess the presence and relevance they provide to fashion weeks.

Fashion communication research: A way ahead

This document, designed and written during the conference FACTUM19, has two main goals: to help consolidate Fashion Communication as an academic field, and to support an international and interdisciplinary network of scholars in the area, whose collaboration may lead to a larger body of research and, in turn, to further academic recognition. To do so, it outlines main research topics, approaches and challenges, as well as related industry issues and learning dimensions

The role of e-learning applications within the tourism sector

Since the beginning of the Internet, the number of e-learning courses has increased year after year, offering new solutions – and new challenges – for distance teaching/learning within schools and universities as well as outside of them. Learners take advantage of e-learning because it gives them the opportunity to organize their time and overcome distance barriers when accessing to their virtual classrooms. E-learning has fostered a new paradigm for teaching and learning where technologies offer alternative ways to learn and to share and transfer knowledge. In the knowledge economy, education and training have also become an important asset for professionals and companies in becoming more competitive, where e-learning is increasingly used to teach new professionals and to train current employees, improving their professional development. Not surprisingly, tourism academic curricula and tourism organizations use e-learning platforms in training and educating tourism professionals

Academic Papers UK travel agents' evaluation of eLearning courses offered by destinations : An exploratory study

a b s t r a c t This study aims to develop an understanding of the use of e-learning courses created for travel agents by Destination Management Organizations (DMOs). It explores agents' perceptions of such courses. The research examines the views of 304 UK-based travel agents using online survey and investigates whether age, sex, type of agency, work experience, and educational level have influence on e-learning uptake. The satisfaction of travel agents with DMO e-learning is also assessed and found to depend on the number of courses previously attended, knowledge acquired, change in beliefs about the destination, and increased confidence in serving potential tourists

Fashion communication: between tradition and digital transformation

We are happy and thrilled to introduce this thematic section of Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS), devoted to Fashion Communication. It was about two years ago when we first discussed the idea in Madrid: then we got the approval by SComS Editors, published the call, and eventually secured the outstanding collection of papers you have in your hands (or on your screen). A long and enriching journey, full of interactions, conversations, views and reviews, a journey that makes the scholar’s work so fascinating (even if, sometimes, not that fashionable)

Volatility spillovers in the European bank CDS market

From the 2007 subprime crisis to the recent Eurozone debt crisis, the banking industry has experienced terrible financial instability with increasing volatility levels of bank default probability. Using European CDS spreads data from January 2006 to March 2013, this paper sheds light on the impact of three recent significant events of credit risk volatility transmission between, firstly, Eurozone and non-Eurozone banks, and then between distressed peripheral and core countries inside the Eurozone. We employ an asymmetric multivariate BEKK model to measure cross-market volatility spillovers. We find that both recent crises are distinct episodes. The global financial crisis that originated outside Europe is characterized by unidirectional volatility spillovers in credit risk from inside to outside the Eurozone. By contrast, the Eurozone debt crisis is revealed to be local in nature with the euro as the key element, suggesting a financial market fragmentation within the Eurozone between distressed peripheral and non-distressed core Eurozone countries, whereas retaining the local currency has acted as a firewall