WeSkill project partners agreed on the skills for which 5 training programmes will be developed in the Spa and Wellbeing sector

On November 10, 2021, the partners of the EU project WeSkill met to evaluate and analyse the 4 research reports, their results and to decide on the most relevant skills in the Spa and Well-being sector that need to be improved, developed and for which 5 training programmes will be developed in the next phase of the project:

1. Customer oriented communication and service skills + Problem solving skills

2. Design of Spa and Wellness products

3. Digital marketing skills for Spa and Wellness products and services

4. Digital skill

5. Sustainable development

Between December 2020 and August 2021, 4 studies were carried out in the 7 participating countries and in additional 4 EU countries outside the partnership, resulting in 4 reports:

• A report on the results of research on skill gaps in existing data sources, desk research on a national level.
• A report on the results of the survey of employers and vet representatives in the spa and well-being sector.
• A report on the focus groups organised by employers and professionals in the spa and wellness sector and their results.
• The final report on the skills that need to be improved, developed for the spa and wellness sector

In July 2020, the European Commission approved a new transnational project WeSkills under the Erasmus+ programme. The main objective of the project is to develop transnational training programmes and relevant training content for the wellness and spa sector.

The project involves partners from vocational training institutions, spa and wellness sector businesses and NGOs from Latvia, Slovenia, France, Belgium, Italy, Serbia, the Netherlands, Greece, Bulgaria and the partner organisation FEMTEC.

The training programmes are aimed at students and adults/workers from the sector with skills gaps. The WeSkill project will result in the wellness and spa tourism sector as a whole – improving the quality of knowledge and skills of staff, becoming more sustainable, progressive and competitive within the EU.

The project will result in 5 training programmes aimed at improving the 5 skills identified in the Wellness and Spa Sector Skills Gap Synthesis Report and one additional digital skill. The objective will be achieved through the development of each skill, its adoption in all participating countries and the development of training materials (manual, presentations, exercises, test materials) that will also be shared among partners and integrated in a certified way in each partner country. Each curriculum will also define work-based learning standards based on the European Commission publication “Work-based learning in Europe: practice and policy guidance”, and taking into account the six key elements identified in the EQAVET Secretariat’s Quality and Qualifications “Quality Assurance for Work-Based Learning” publication. All modules of the transnational education programme will be prepared for 50-100 teaching hours.

The testing period will run from December 2021 to October 2022. It will consist of 2 pilot sessions: Session 1 – 20 students per project country (140 participants in total in Pilot 1) and Session 2 – 20 employees in wellness and spa tourism businesses per project country (140 participants in total in Pilot 2).

The project will run from autumn 2020 and will last 36 months. The total budget of the project is EUR 999 808,00, of which the budget of the association “Latvian Health Tourism Cluster” is EUR 28 312,00.

More information about the cluster and its activities here.