Innovative project develops digitalisation in tourism in the Czech Republic and Austria

The Digitization in Tourism project was created with the aim of creating new active public institutions in the field of digitization in the regions of Highlands and Horní Austria. The cross-border project supported by the grant program Interreg V-A Austria-Czechá Republic 2014-2015 involved both the staff of the High&scaroná &scaroná College of Polytechnicé Jihlava (VŠPJ) and Johannes Kepler University in Linz, as well as the organizations Vysočina Tourism and Verbund OÖ Museen, which mediate the cultural heritage of the široké region to the public.

During the implementation of the project from January 2020 to November 2022, the partners participated in two key activities. In the framework of the cooperation between the individual institutions, a cross-border seminar on Museum and Tourism was created for participants from cultural tourism, museums and galleries.

They dealt, for example, with theáv&scaroný research, culturalátourism or digitaláln´ strategy that eacháinstitution develops for itsáneeds. The „Seminarár focusedý on digitization was divided into two sessions. In zá 2021, the firstá part was held in the Upper Austrian towns of Steyer and Linz. At the end of June and the beginning of July 2022, the seminar continued with a secondááá& stá at the College of Polytechnicá Jihlava and otheráá mí towns in the Highlands,“ saidáá project leader RNDr. Mgr. Stanislava Pachrová, Ph.D., from the Department of Tourism of V&ScaronáPJ.

In the rám of the project, aé course in Englishélanguage called Digitization in Cultural Tourism was created, whichý will be included in the stálé nabíThe course will be part of the elective courses for students of the Tourism & Tourism programme and foreign students on Erasmus+ stays at the Polytechnic & College Jihlava. In the spring of thisšní year, a pilotí course was held, which was attended by 20 students and participated in by both Czechští and Austrianští lecturers, as well as professionals from practice. The course content, which was developed by VŠPJ in cooperation with the Johannes Kepler University Linz, focuses on e.g. online marketing, social media, storytelling or právní aspects of digitalization. Students should be able to understand the issues of digitalization in tourism,“ describes Stanislava Pachrová. 

Pilotí iný course on Digitization in Cultural Tourism at VŠPJ (VŠPJ archive)

Although the project implementation period ended on 30. November 2022, the cooperation will continue during the project's sustainability, both through the newly added course and the continuation of the seminar on digitization for the public.