Abstract:

The transition towards a sustainable tourism industry requires a workforce equipped with green, entrepreneurial and transversal competences.

TourXpeRience addresses this need by strengthening Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems through innovative, competence-based approaches. The project focuses on the added value of leveraging three key European competence frameworks, GreenComp, EntreComp and LifeComp, to enhance education, training and lifelong learning pathways in tourism. This is a European Centre for Vocational Excellence, funded under the Erasmus Programme, that seeks to renew and modernise the tourism sector, through the strategic integration of Extended Reality (XR) technology.

By leveraging Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality technologies, the project aims at establishing a dynamic educational landscape where students and teachers are able to fully exploit the transformative potential of technology in advancing sustainable tourism entrepreneurship, fostering a culture of innovation and responsibility.

TourXpeRience adopts a structured, framework-driven educational approach. The GreenComp framework supports the integration of sustainability competences such as systems thinking, environmental responsibility and futures literacy. EntreComp is used to foster entrepreneurial mindsets, innovation and value creation within tourism contexts, while LifeComp strengthens personal, social and learning-to-learn competences essential for adaptability and employability.

To ensure effective uptake, the project envisions targeted workshops and training sessions on each framework to project partners, enabling VET educators, trainers and institutional staff to embed competence-based learning into curricula and training practices. In addition, an international public webinar on “Exploring Green Skills and Entrepreneurial Competences” promotes wider awareness, dialogue and knowledge exchange beyond the partnership.

A key outcome is the development of the Skills Toolkit for Sustainable Entrepreneurship, designed for VET learners and educators in the tourism sector. The Toolkit summarises essential competences derived from GreenComp, EntreComp and LifeComp, supports learners in identifying and developing skills for sustainable and entrepreneurial tourism careers and provides educators with practical guidance to integrate European competence frameworks into teaching and training.

TourXpeRience will harmonise certification frameworks, implementing sustainability and entrepreneurship across curricula, by modernizing VET curricula and aligning them with the GreenComp and EntreComp European frameworks. It also empowers educators to adopt new technologies and fostering sustainable entrepreneurship leveraging EU and national funding to reduce regional disparities, and establishing innovation ecosystems that connect tourism, ICT, and green industries.

By leveraging European competence frameworks, TourXpeRience contributes to increased capacity, shared understanding and practical application of green, entrepreneurial and transversal skills across Europe. This approach delivers clear added value for education and training by aligning learning outcomes with EU priorities for sustainability, entrepreneurship and lifelong learning. Ultimately, the project supports the development of a resilient, skilled and sustainability-driven tourism workforce capable of responding to current and future sector challenges.

Keywords:

Tourism, European frameworks, future of learning, extended reality.