Why Awareness Comes First

Tourism in Europe is undergoing structural change. The green and digital transition is reshaping not only how destinations operate, but also what skills determine success. Yet the speed of transformation has outpaced awareness. Thousands of small tourism businesses still do not know which competences will matter most in the coming decade or where to find support to develop them.

In 2025, as the Pact for Skills and the Transition Pathway for Tourism mature, the focus of EU action is shifting from designing training to ensuring that people and enterprises recognise their relevance. Awareness has become the silent precondition for every other reform: without it, even well-funded training frameworks risk remaining unused. Raising awareness is about helping Europe’s 22 million tourism workers see how sustainability, digitalisation, and innovation connect to their daily decisions - from waste management and customer communication to strategic planning.

From Skills Gap to Skills Awareness

The European tourism workforce is diverse, but often fragmented. Micro and small enterprises dominate the sector, while seasonal employment and high turnover limit long-term planning. This structure creates a persistent skills gap - not because training does not exist, but because awareness of future needs remains low and workers are unaware of, and have difficulty accessing, existing training opportunities.

Cedefop’s 2025 skills forecast points to strong demand growth in digital marketing, data analysis, circular business models, and sustainable mobility management. Yet many SMEs still prioritise short-term operational tasks over learning investments. Awareness, in this sense, means more than knowing what skills are needed: it is the ability to link those skills to competitiveness and resilience.

For example, understanding how digital tools can improve energy efficiency or how data analysis informs visitor management can turn awareness into a measurable business advantage. The same logic applies to inclusivity and accessibility - areas that combine ethical value with market opportunity. Awareness thus functions as a bridge between regulation and innovation: the moment enterprises perceive skills as drivers of value, transformation accelerates.

The EU Response - Making Skills Visible

The EU has recognised that low visibility of opportunities is one of the biggest barriers to reskilling. The European Skills Agenda and the Pact for Skills for Tourism now place awareness at the centre of their approach. By connecting businesses, workers, education providers, and local authorities, these frameworks ensure that information about learning opportunities circulates effectively.

Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills - implemented through the Next Tourism Generation Alliance - created Europe’s first common competence framework for tourism. It outlines concrete profiles such as digital customer journey designer or sustainability manager, translating broad policy goals into clear learning paths. This framework is not just theoretical: it has been used by vocational institutions in Spain, Italy, and Croatia to design updated curricula.

EU-wide tools such as ESCO and Europass make skills visible and comparable, enabling workers to present qualifications consistently across borders. At project level, Tourbit helps SMEs assess their digital maturity and plan specific upgrades; DIGITOUR offers vouchers for digital innovation; and Tourban provides mentoring for circular economy solutions in urban destinations. Each of these initiatives begins with awareness: self-assessment, mapping, and recognition of knowledge gaps before training even starts.

The 2025 Transition Pathway for Tourism adds another layer - the creation of local and regional skills hubs. These hubs act as intermediaries, helping SMEs identify learning needs, matching them with local providers, and sharing good practices across destinations. Their pilot implementations in Austria, Portugal, and Greece already demonstrate how awareness can turn into structured cooperation.

Awareness in Practice - Destinations That Learn

Awareness can also be measured through how destinations embed learning into governance. Slovenia’s Green Scheme, for instance, links sustainability certification with employee training modules. Hotels and attractions that commit to the scheme must also report on staff engagement and continuous improvement. The result is not only environmental compliance but a trained workforce that understands the principles behind it.

Finland’s Sustainable Travel Finland programme integrates awareness modules on the circular economy, carbon measurement, and digital communication. Local entrepreneurs are guided through reflection exercises to identify which skills are missing in their teams. Awareness thus becomes a managerial process - part of strategic planning rather than a side project.

Portugal’s Turismo+ Academy takes a different route: combining national awareness campaigns with regional learning centres. Its “Skills for All” campaign reached over 60,000 tourism workers in 2024, translating policy language into accessible guidance. By promoting examples of digital transformation and low-carbon innovation, the Academy turns abstract ideas into relatable success stories.

These experiences reveal that destinations which make awareness part of their brand - by openly discussing progress, challenges, and learning - gain not only visibility but trust. They attract partners, talent, and investment, reinforcing the cycle of adaptation.

Challenges and the Way Forward

Despite the progress, significant gaps persist. Communication about training and funding opportunities is still fragmented, and not all regions have equal access to learning infrastructure. SMEs often lack time, staff, or digital literacy to search for relevant programmes.

To overcome these barriers, the EU and Member States are introducing flexible solutions. Micro-credentials allow workers to gain recognition for short learning experiences, while Erasmus+ mobility for vocational education supports exchanges between tourism schools and destinations. ESF+ funding, in turn, helps regional authorities build permanent skills partnerships involving DMOs, training providers, and business associations.

However, the real breakthrough will come when awareness becomes a governance principle, not a campaign. This means treating learning as a shared responsibility - embedded in destination management, policy design, and sustainability certification. Creating a “learning ecosystem” around tourism requires continuous dialogue and feedback loops between public and private actors. The more awareness is institutionalised, the less dependent it becomes on temporary projects

Awareness as Europe’s Competitive Advantage

Awareness is often invisible, yet it is the foundation upon which transformation stands. It links the skills agenda, sustainability goals, and innovation capacity of European tourism. Awareness is what turns frameworks into results - when people know what to learn, where to learn it, and why it matters, the system begins to evolve on its own.

As the EU develops the Tourism Data Space and expands the Pact for Skills, the ability of enterprises to recognise and articulate their learning needs will determine how fast the sector adapts. Destinations that cultivate awareness will be better positioned to integrate data, adopt AI-driven tools, and achieve net-zero objectives.

Europe’s advantage does not lie solely in technology or regulation. It lies in people - professionals aware of their potential, equipped to innovate, and willing to learn together. Building that awareness is not just a communication task; it is a strategic investment in the continent’s capacity to shape the tourism of tomorrow.