A Call from the Institute of Euromed Affairs supported by Turizm Aktüel


Together we have travelled a lot through this column… it’s been two years now and after our last stop in Berlin with the article on I.T.B. (Inside Tourism and Beyond), we return to the Aegean Sea but this time with a different wording; something like a call, a call for new collaborative projects in the region, a call addressed to students and practitioners in the tourism sector to join a different event organized this year in İzmir … So, let’s travel and learn!
Many of you may still remember my first article on Turizm Aktüel entitled: “It’s all about tourism: Adopting an interregional perspective”. This article focuses on an effort to bring the two Aegean coasts together with a unique educational tourism event that will attract participants from all over the world, in the centre of the Aegean Archipelago amid the Mediterranean Sea. To start the ball rolling, the Institute of Euromed Affairs seems to have incorporated this message since its foundation.

The history of the Mediterranean is indistinguishable from that of Europe. The Mediterranean
basin is where north meets south, and east meets west. As the region where three continents converge, it is much more than simply a European Union border. European Commission, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED)
Centralised operations for Europe and the Mediterranean

IEMA organizes this year in İzmir the 2011 Tourism Summer School, supported by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, in cooperation with the Faculty of Business (Department of Tourism Management) of Dokuz Eylül University. And of course, Turizm Aktüel actively supports the organisation being the official media partner of the 6-day event. We will definitely be there! But first let’s have a closer look on facts and figures.

What is all about?
2011 Tourism Summer School (http://tourismsummerschool.org/) is the 2nd Summer School after the 1st which took place in Chios Island, Greece last September. Students from 6 countries participated in the 1st Summer School (2010) where Professor Dimitrios Buhalis from Bournemouth University was invited as a guest speaker. Rotation actually worked and this year’s summer school sails toward the other side of the Aegean coastline.

What am I going to do there?
An unforgettable 6-day experience is awaiting this year’s prospective attendees combining high quality academic courses, with a wide range of cultural and social activities.  The 2011 programme is geared toward the development of key analytical skills and strategic competencies applied to the tourism sector, specially planned in accordance with the international tourism market needs and based on international curricula. Team-based workshops and multidisciplinary courses, such as Introduction to Marketing and Tourism, Innovation and ICTs, Tourism Strategy and Destination Branding all of which are taught in English, intend to stimulate thought and cultivate intellectual development in an international environment, offering students the opportunity to share knowledge, build on mutual understanding and cooperate on travel and tourism destination case studies.

Who can participate?
Summer School's attendees consist of Students, Undergraduates and Postgraduates in Tourism and Social Sciences, Employers and Self-employed in tourism companies, as well as professionals in related sectors who wish to extend and update their knowledge, and of course people fully inspired by tourism.

Why go?
Turkey hosts this year the international Tourism Summer School 2011. A vibrant “tourism-education-holiday” experience will take place where lectures, trips and networking will be intermixed in a different atmosphere! An event addressed to you, your firm, your employees, your students etc.  Just because knowledge can actually be transferred between people and places and it might be enriched as well when frontiers are ignored in this field. Why not give it a go? … and spread the news alike!
The first Turizm Aktüel correspondence from Athens with the Organizing Committee can only be seen as such. Successful paradigms to share and many more synergies to foster!

Mark your calendars, get prepared and we will all be there to address you a warm welcome to Izmir both in Greek and in Turkish, “Kalos Orisate” and “Hoşgeldiniz”!
For more information:
www.tourismsummerschool.org
[email protected]