This topic examined the role of skills awareness as a prerequisite for the twin transition in tourism, focusing on how stakeholders can better identify future green and digital skills needs and link them with existing education and training opportunities. Drawing on the monthly article “Skills Awareness – The Hidden Engine of Tourism Transformation", the webinar “Awareness raising on education and training opportunities needed for the twin transition”, and the online discussion “Why skills awareness matters for the future of tourism?” in November 2025, the objective was to frame awareness as the foundation of all skills policies and to explore how making existing opportunities visible, understandable, and actionable can support the sector’s transition.

Key themes included: 

• The role of awareness‑raising in linking policy objectives, training provision, and skills demand across the tourism ecosystem.

• The emergence of new green and digital skills requirements across tourism occupations and value chains. 
• The contribution of education systems, vocational education and training (VET), and lifelong learning to support the tourism sector’s twin transition
• The presence of structural, informational, and capacity‑related constraints affecting access to skills development for SMEs and workers.

The initiatives showcased illustrate how destinations, SMEs, and sector organisations are strengthening skills awareness and workforce readiness to support their twin transition, including: 

• National Skills and Talent Development Framework – Turismo de Portugal: Strengthening digital and green skills through future skills mapping, flexible training, and partnerships with industry and education providers.
• Next Tourism Generation, PANTOUR: project, supporting long‑term workforce planning through skills intelligence and practical tools for SMEs and training providers.
• Joint skills and apprenticeship initiatives, HOTREC and EFFAT: promoting apprenticeships, lifelong learning, and awareness‑raising on green and digital skills for hospitality workers
• Employer‑led skills and workforce practices, WiZiU: applying participative management, digital optimisation, and sustainability‑focused employer branding to support skills development and workforce retention in hospitality. 
• Green housekeeping and digital work tools, Radisson Blu Arlandia Stockholm: integrating sustainability practices and digital tools into daily operations, enabling staff to develop green and digital skills through routine tasks.
• Sustainable Travel Finland, Visit Finland: embedding skills awareness on circular economy, carbon measurement, and digital communication into destination certification and business support schemes.
• Slovenia Green Scheme of Sustainable Tourism, Slovenian Tourism Board: linking sustainability certification with staff training and continuous skills development at destination and enterprise level.

Modernised dual vocational training system, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB): Germany’s dual VET system combines workplace learning and formal education, integrating sustainability and digitalisation into hospitality curricula.

Stakeholder stories highlight how destinations and organisations are translating skills awareness and data into more informed decision‑making and stronger sector resilience.

Key conclusions and emerging trends include

• Awareness is a prerequisite for effective upskilling and reskilling, as many tourism stakeholders are not aware of future skill needs or existing education and training opportunities. 
• The twin transition requires abroad mix of skills, combining digital competences with sustainability‑related knowledge across all tourism roles, not only technical or managerial positions.
• SMEs face specific barriers in accessing skills development, including limited time, resources, and information, reinforcing the need for targeted awareness‑raising actions.
• Closer coordination between policy, education, and industry is needed, with awareness acting as the connecting element that enables training provision to translate into real uptake.
• Webinars and peer exchange are effective awareness-raising tools, helping to disseminate information on skills needs and education opportunities across the tourism ecosystem.