R4F Ready for Future: Equipping Teachers with Future Skills

EU programme for education, training, youth and sport, 2014-2020 KA2 Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices Strategic partnership for Vocational education and training R4F Ready for Future: Equipping Teachers with Future Skills O1 Joint analysis report Provided by: BEST Institut für berufsbezogene Weiterbildung und Personaltraining GmbH, Austria This project (no.: 2015-1-RO01-KA202-015180) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information

Table of Contents 1. Project key considerations... 1 2. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH and SCOPE of THE REPORT... 1 3. MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH... 2 3. 1 Entrepreneurship skills focusing on CSR in Tourism... 4 3.2 Digital skills... 9 3.3 Knowledge & skills in the rural tourism development (related to SME`s)... 11 3.4 Intercultural competences... 14 3.5 Key competences... 19 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS... 28 This project (no.: 2015-1-RO01-KA202-015180) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information 2

1. PROJECT KEY CONSIDERATIONS The project aims to equip teachers and trainers (= primary target group) working in the tourism sector with necessary skills for being able to deliver transversal skills such as entrepreneurship education as well as key competences knowing about how to tackle the challenges of tourism enterprises (= final beneficiary group 1) aligning business operations in a sustainable manner - among young people (= final beneficiary group 2). This shall take place through the development of a new, innovative pedagogical approach and by enhancing the digital integration in learning, teaching and training (by promotion of access and learning through Open Educational Resources (OER) and ICT-based assessment practices. Broadening the mind of trainers/ teachers through internationalisation and cross- sectoral cooperation as well as the opportunity to connect theory with practice (work based teaching) will set a new stimulus for the target groups and beneficiaries of this project. To create a sustainable impact on the national educational system, the partnership is designed to unite and foster collaboration between municipalities, educational institutions home in formal and non-formal teaching, as well entrepreneurs in the tourism sector. This shall guarantee for being able to design a training, which is developed in close collaboration between educational institutions and at the same time to current labour market needs. 2. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH AND SCOPE OF THE REPORT This report presents the results obtained during the analysis phase of the Ready for Future project. A survey was conducted with 34 respondents involved from the participating partner countries. 8 are from Spain, 10 from Romania, 7 from Latvia and 9 from Austria. The aim is to gather information regarding skills needs for the tourism sector. The following topics are included: Entrepreneurship skills focusing on CSR in tourism, knowledge & skills in the rural tourism development, intercultural competences and key competences (for lifelong learning). Respondents were asked to assess the importance of these topics according to: =1; =2; =3; =4. In the first section, regarding entrepreneurship skills focusing on CSR Tourism, a total of 15 competences have been assessed. These competences comprise both transversal and 1

functional competences dealing with entrepreneurship. In addition, three specific skills related to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are included, as well as digital skills. Following, competences for rural tourism development from the point of view of SME were rated. In this section, a total of six competences are included. Next, respondents were asked to give feedback regarding intercultural competences. This section is split up in six parts regarding the assessed competences. Furthermore, respondents had the possibility to add competences, which they consider to be essential. Finally, 13 key competences, including soft skills as well as basic competences following the eight key competences according to the European commission were assessed by respondents. The results are described and illustrated on the following pages. 3. MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH For the findings of the research, special emphasis was given to the competences, which are assessed as essential for tourism. An additional focus are differences between the countries. According to the results of the first section, entrepreneurship skills focusing on CSR, it is obvious that from the competences assessed as essential, the evaluation of stakeholder focus shows differences between the countries regarding its importance, especially between Spain and Latvia (see fig.1, p. 7). The results from Latvia show, that stakeholder focus is an important competence. This results can be explained with the national environment for the enterprises in Latvia, which is far different from Western Europe. Access to information is very limited, and CSR concept needs to be adapted to Latvia s situation, before micro and small-sized enterprises can meet future market requirements and enhance their competitiveness. It is essential that policies and programs are adjusted to address this new reality and that the business community is, as far as possible, engaged and understands the concept. Therefore, it is understandable that stakeholders should be more included and further, that there is a need for this skill. Surprisingly, the situation is not so different in Spain, except that there is already an existing strategy for the promotion of the tourism sector. The current National Tourism Plan PNIT (2012-15) was developed in response to the needs of the tourism sector and includes the call for leadership, in terms of bringing together all stakeholders and resources in a common endeavour. 2

In the section including the assessment of digital skills, country specific differences are noticed regarding: - Developing content - Netiquette - Integrating and elaborating Significant differences are especially between results from Spain and Romania. Regarding these results, it is an essential competence according to the feedback from Romanian respondents. For the professional profile of agent professions as well as managerial professions, ICT skills are on 4 th, respectively 3 rd position of the skills needed. The analysis of the results for digital skills show that on averages all are considered important, but not essential for promotion of entrepreneurship in tourism. Regarding knowledge & skills in the rural tourism development (related to SME`s), there are no significant differences between the countries. Knowledge and skills in this area are assessed as essential for the development of tourism in Romania. CSR and environmental responsibility is regarded as least important in Austria and Latvia. The closest similarities between the countries occur in market supply/demand and customer segmentation. From the section regarding the assessment of intercultural competences, it is noticeable that all of the listed competences are in particular essential to important. Thus, none was assessed as irrelevant. In view of these results regarding intercultural competences, it is surprising that in the section regarding the assessment of key competences, the competences of cultural awareness and expression shows diverse results. It is noticeable that soft skills are as important as basic skills. The following table illustrates the most important skills and competences from each area: Table 1: Rating of competences in each area Entrepreneurship Digital skills skills focusing on CSR Problem solving Planning Marketing Browsing, searching and filtering information Knowledge & skills in the rural tourism development (related to SME`s), Custome r service Tourism product develop Intercultural competences Intercultur al awareness Intercultur Key competences Empathy Respect Communicati on in the mother 3

Decisionmaking Stakehold er focus ment Marketin g and promotio n Safety Market supply/d emand and customer segmenta tion CSR and environm ental responsib ility al communic ation Knowledg e of organisati onal culture and guests` culture Negotiatio n Conflict resolution Intercultur al teamwork Evaluating information Storing and retrieving information Interacting through technologie s Sharing information and content Collaborati ng through digital channels Netiquette Developing content Integrating and reelaborating Identifying needs and technologic al responses Innovating and creatively using technology tongue Selfconfidence Openmindedness, flexibility, communicati on in foreign languages Frustration tolerance Intercultural sensitivity Social and civic competences Ambiguity tolerance Mathematical competence and basic competence in science and technology Cultural awareness and expression 3. 1 ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS FOCUSING ON CSR IN TOURISM In this first section, entrepreneurship skills focusing on CSR in tourism are divided between transversal and functional competences. Overall, 15 competences were assessed for this area. 4

Table 2: Entrepreneurship skills focusing on CSR tourism Entrepreneurship skills focusing on CSR tourism Transversal competences Functional competences Decision making Planning Creativity Marketing Innovativeness Change management Problem Solving Knowledge management Learn to learn Stakeholder focus (CSR) Team work Corporate communication (CSR) Leadership Ethical Sense (CSR) Digital skills First of all, it has to be noted that analysing countries data, significant differences are noticed regarding the assessment of certain competences. Major differences 1 and thus, perception of importance were identified in the following competences: - Innovativeness - Team work - Leadership - Change management - Stakeholder focus - Corporate communication 1 Within the framework of the analysis carried out, by major differences were refer to the cases when the difference (distance) of average (media) scores of the evaluated competences between the countries were 1 or bigger. 5

Fig. 1: Assessment by country - average Romania Austria Latvia Spain DIGITAL COMPETENCES PLANNING 3,0 2,5 DECISION-MAKING CORPORATE COMMUNICATION 2,0 CREATIVITY 1,5 STAKEHOLDER FOCUS 1,0 INNOVATIVENESS 0,5 ETHICAL SENSE 0,0 PROBLEM SOLVING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT LEARN TO LEARN CHANGE MANAGEMENT MARKETING LEADERSHIP TEAM WORK 6

Fig. 2: Assessment of competences for entrepreneurship (number of respondents per assessment criteria) 40 35 30 1 1 8 4 4 8 3 5 1 1 1 4 3 6 4 25 20 13 16 12 21 15 13 11 14 18 15 11 19 15 25 26 10 20 14 18 19 16 18 16 16 19 19 5 10 8 0 ESSENTIAL IMPORTANT NOT VERY IMPORTANT IRRELEVANT NA Focusing on the general assessment of the competences, those that were assessed as most important are the following: - Problem solving (1.2) - Planning (1.3) - Marketing (1.3) - Decision-making (1.4) - Stakeholder focus (1.4) To be followed by others (according to the degree of importance): - Ethical sense (1.5) - Leadership (1.6) - Innovativeness (1.6) - Knowledge management (1.6) - Corporate communication (1.6) 7

- Digital competences (1.6) - Creativity (1,7) - Learn to learn (1.8) - Change management (1.9) According to the results and the main comparative figure (Fig.3: Competences assessment average), and taking into consideration the differences between the countries, the results show that there are some essential competences to promote entrepreneurship in tourism. Those that obtained an average between 1 and less than 1.4, being the other competences considered as important to enhance the entrepreneurial environment in tourism by the participants in the analysis. Finally, it has to be highlighted that the CSR related competences are considered essential or important, obtaining an average of 1.4 and 1.6 in the assessment. Fig 3: Competences for entrepreneurship in tourism assessment average 2,0 CHANGE MANAGEMENT 1,9 IMPORTANT IMPORTANT 1,8 LEARN TO LEARN 1,7 1,6 CREATIVITY INNOVATIVENESS TEAM W ORK LEADERSHIP KNOW LEDGE MANAGEMENT DIGITAL COMPETENCES 1,5 ETHICAL SENSE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION 1,4 DECISION-MAKING STAKEHOLDER FOCUS 1,3 PLANNING PROBLEM SOLVING MARKETING 1,2 ESSENTIAL ESSENTIAL 1,1 1,0 8

3.2 DIGITAL SKILLS This section presents the results obtained in the assessment of digital skills by the target group. As commented previously, partnership agreed to evaluate a set of 11 digital skills considered as relevant for tourism sector. Fig.4: Digital skills As noted in the previous section, there is difference between countries and how the participants assessed the digital competences. The following three digital skills are perceived differently in the four participant countries: - Developing content - Netiquette - Integrating and elaborating 9

Fig. 5: Digital skills Assessment by country (average) Innovating a nd c reatively using technology Browsing, searching and filtering information 3,0 2,5 Evaluating information 2,0 Identifying needs a nd technological responses 1,5 1,0 Storing and retrieving information 0,5 Integrating and reelaborating 0,0 Interacting through technologies De veloping content Sharing information and content Netiquette Collaborating through digital channels Romania Austria Latvia Spain Regarding the other competences included in the assessment, the results obtained in Austria, Latvia and Spain are more similar than the assessment done in Romania. In Romania, all the digital skills are considered as essential (obtaining an average between 1 and 1.4). On the other hand, the average obtained in Austria, Latvia and Spain show that digital competences to promote the entrepreneurship in tourism are less valued than in Romania. By competences, the averages show that all are considered important, but not essential for promotion of entrepreneurship in tourism. 10

Fig. 6: Assessment of digital competences average by competence 2 IMPORTANT IMPORTANT Integrating and reelaborating Innovating and creatively using technology 1,5 Browsing, searching and filtering information Interacting through technologies Storing and retrieving information Evaluating information Sharing information and content Netiquette Collaborating through digital channels Developing content Identifying needs and technological responses ESSENTIAL ESSENTIAL 1 3.3 KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS IN THE RURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT (RELATED TO SME`S) For the present section of the evaluation, 6 competences have been assessed: Tourism product development Market supply/demand and customer segmentation Marketing and promotion Customer service Safety CSR and environmental responsibility All competences have been rated by average as essential or important in all countries. Opinions are not highly diverging between countries. There are just a couple of distinct differences: - CSR and environmental responsibility is regarded as least important in Austria and Latvia, while in Romania it is considered to be essential; 11

Closest similarities between countries occur in: - Market supply/demand and customer segmentation where Spain, Austria and Latvia agree that this competence ranks between essential and important. Romanian respondents regard all the competences as essential. None of the competences rank strongly below important. Fig. 7: Assessment by country - average CSR and environmental responsibility Tourism product development 2,5 2 1,5 1 0,5 0 Market supply/demand and customer segmentation spain rumania latvia Safety Marketing and promotion austria Customer service Fig. 8: Assessment of competences for rural tourism development 2; Tourism 2; Market 2; Customer product supply/demand 2; Marketing and service ; 6 development ; and 9 customer promotion ; 10 segmentation ; 12 3; Safety ; 1 3; CSR and environmental 2; Safety ; 9 responsibility ; 4 2; CSR and environmental responsibility 3 ; 11 2 1; Tourism 1; Market 1 1; Customer product supply/demand 1; Marketing and service ; 28 1; CSR and development ; and customer 1; Safety ; 24 promotion ; 24 environmental 25 segmentation ; responsibility ; 22 19 12

Fig. 9: Competences for rural tourism development (SME) The competences that were assessed as most important are the following: Customer service 1.18 Tourism product development 1.26 Marketing and promotion 1.29 Safety 1.32 Market supply/demand 1.35 and customer segmentation CSR and environmental responsibility 1.55 Customer service is ranked as essential by Spain, Romania and Latvia, while Austria agrees that it is still an important skill. Tourism product development is essential for Romania and between essential/ important for the rest of three respondent countries. Marketing and promotion is essential for Romania, somewhat between essential/important for Spain, and closer to important for Latvia and Austria. Safety scores its rank four due to differing opinions between Austria and Spain (closer to important), and Latvia and Romania (closer to essential). 13

Market supply/demand and customer segmentation is, as always, essential for Romania, while Spain, Austria and Latvia agree that it is between essential and important. CSR and environmental responsibility is close to essential by Romania and Spain, while definitely not more than important for Latvia and Austria. All the examined competences ranked high, nonetheless than important. Hereby they all qualify to be incorporated in training with contents that is relevant for today s work environment. 3.4 INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCES In this section regarding intercultural competences, no significant country specific differences are noticed. However, it has to be noticed, that in comparison, intercultural competences are essential for Romanian respondents, while respondents from Latvia indicate that they are less important. The following 6 competences were assessed: Intercultural awareness Knowledge of organisational culture and members` (guests`) culture Intercultural communication Intercultural negotiation Intercultural teamwork Intercultural conflict resolution Intercultural awareness includes to have knowledge about cultures and their differences and to deal with these differences in a reflexive and responsible way. For intercultural competence, intercultural awareness is an ability that clearly matters, as it is considered to be essential by a majority of 65% of the respondents and important by 29%. Only 6% state not very important to be cultural aware and no one thinks that it is irrelevant. 14

Fig.10: Intercultural awareness Intercultural awareness 29% 6% 0% 65% In view of the importance of having cultural awareness, it is interesting to find out, if knowledge of organisational culture and members` (guests`) culture may be associated with it. The results are similar, slightly ambiguous. With 59%, over a half of the respondents evaluate this knowledge to be essential. A third of them, specific 32%, is of the opinion that knowing about the members and guests culture is important, while a minority of 9% disagree and thinks that it is not very important. No one state irrelevant. Fig.11: Knowledge of organisational culture and members` (guests`) culture Knowledge of organisational culture and members (guests') culture 32% 9% 0% 59% 15

From the awareness of cultural differences and the knowledge of other cultures, it can be assumed, that is relevant to know how to communicate in a cultural sensitive way. From the rating of the relevance of intercultural communication, the results are as following: With 61%, nearly two third of the respondents think that intercultural communication is essential and one third, specific 33%, that it is important. A minority of 6% consider this soft skill as not very important, but still no one as irrelevant. Fig.12: Intercultural communication Intercultural communication 32% 6% 0% 62% Negotiation is an important part of communication that concerns to have a position and reasonable arguments for this point of view. To deal with different arguments in a sensitive and appreciating way, especially in intercultural situations, can be assumed to be important for work related communication and professional contexts. From the feedback gained, with 55%, over a half of the respondents, it is even essential in view of intercultural competence. For more than a third, specific 36%, it is still important, while for 9% it is not very important. Again, no one completely disagrees by stating irrelevant. In comparison to the previous results, the tendency is similar, but slightly less clear. 16

Fig.13: Intercultural negotiation Intercultural negotiation 35% 9% 0% 56% The results for the next item intercultural teamwork are ambiguous. With 49%, less than a half considers Intercultural teamwork as essential, but still 36% as important. However, the amount of disagreements is increasing with 15% stated not very important, but still, 0% indicate irrelevant. These results are interesting as cultural aware communication, but also negotiation are factors, which concern good teamwork. Therefore it could have been concluded, that the results would be confirming. Although they show high similarity, it is obvious, that the amount of complete agreements decreases, while the amount of disagreements increases. 17

Fig.14: Intercultural teamwork Intercultural teamwork 35% 15% 0% 50% The tendency of the previous results continues for the next item. 55% consider intercultural conflict resolution as essential and 27% as important and 3% between essential and important. 15% of the respondents disagree and indicate not very important, but 0% state irrelevant. The results for complete agreement can be confirmed with those of the item intercultural negotiation. In comparison to intercultural negotiation and teamwork, intercultural conflict resolution is considered to be essential by a higher amount. Also, the same amount as for the previous item state that it is not very important. 18

Fig.15: Intercultural conflict resolution Intercultural conflict resolution 26% 15% 0% 3% 56% -important Respondents have the possibility to add competences to the list they consider being important. 30% of them took the opportunity and indicated accepting and assimilating values. The remaining 70% didn t` indicate. For this present section regarding intercultural competence following conclusions can be drawn: Overall, intercultural awareness is considered to be the most important ability for intercultural competence. To be able to communicate in an intercultural sensitive way, but also knowing organisational culture and guests` culture are evaluated to be relevant. Negotiation, conflict resolution and teamwork are also important skills for intercultural competence, but the results become more ambiguous for these items. It is also obvious, that there is a small majority consistently disagreeing, but the opportunity of adding other competences that are considered to be relevant was not taken. However, no one of the respondents is of the opinion that of the items mentioned is irrelevant for intercultural competence. 3.5 KEY COMPETENCES In the last section, the results of the assessment of key competences in the partner countries are analysed. According to the results analysed in this section, significant differences depend on the individual view of the respondents regarding the topic and cannot be traced back to country specifics. A total of 13 competences were assessed for this section: 19

Communication in the mother tongue Communication in foreign languages Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology Cultural awareness and expression Social and civic competences Self-confidence Empathy Respect Open-mindedness Flexibility Frustration tolerance Ambiguity tolerance Intercultural sensitivity The first key competence, communication in the mother tongue, is essential for 71% of the respondents and still important for the remaining 26%. The remaining 3% state that communication in the mother tongue is not very important. However, this competence is not irrelevant to the respondents. Due to these unambiguous results, no country specific differences can be noticed. Fig.16: Communication in the mother tongue Communication in the mother tongue 26% 0% 3% 71% 20

Similar to the previous results, also communication in foreign languages is an essential key competence for nearly two third, specific 65%, of the respondents and an important one for nearly one third with 32%. For 3% it is not very important to be able to communicate in foreign languages, but it isn`t irrelevant to anyone of the respondents. Fig.17: Communication in foreign languages Communication in foreign languages 32% 0% 3% 65% The next one of the key competences evaluated shows ambiguous results. Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology is essential for 35% of the respondents. The relevance of the competence is between essential and important for 3% and important for 38%. A higher amount, compared to the previous results, of 21% state that it is not very important to have mathematical competence and 3% even think that it is irrelevant. 21

Fig.18: Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology 3% 3% 21% 38% 35% -important Cultural awareness and expression is essential for 44% of the respondents, between essential and important for 3% and important to 29% of the people asked. 15% of them state that cultural awareness and expression not very important and for 9% it is even irrelevant. This result is interesting in view of the analysis of cultural awareness in the previous section, where the same amount of important is stated, but with a majority indicating that this competence is essential for tourism work contexts. Fig.19: Cultural awareness and expression Cultural awareness and expression 15% 9% 3% 29% 44% -important 22

The next competence to be assessed by the respondents show diverse results. With 59%, Social and civic competence is an essential key skill for over a half of the respondents. It is still important for 26%, between important and not very important for 3%, but not very important for 12%. No one state irrelevant. Fig.20: Social and civic competences Social and civic competences 12% 0% 3% 26% 59% -not very important The unambiguity of next results shows that the indicated soft skills are assessed to be relevant for tourism. Self-confidence is essential for 65% of the respondents and still important for 35%. No one state that it is not very important or irrelevant. Fig.21: Self-confidence Self-confidence 35% 0% 65% 23

Besides self-confidence, empathy is an essential skills for 71% of the respondents and an important one for 29%. This result is clear, as no one state that empathy is not very important or even irrelevant for work contexts. Fig.22: Empathy Empathy 29% 0% 71% Similar to the previous results, the present one shows that respect is a relevant key skill. With 79%, a great majority of the respondents assess respectful behaviour as essential and 15% still as important. However, the remaining 6% state that it is not very important, but it isn`t irrelevant to anyone of the respondents. Fig.23: Respect Respect 6% 15% 0% 79% 24

Open-mindedness is an essential attitude for nearly two third of the respondents with an amount of 65%. Nearly one third, with 32%, of the respondents indicate that openmindedness is important, while 3% state that it is not very important. No one state that it is irrelevant. Fig.24: Open-mindedness Open-mindedness 32% 3% 0% 65% Flexibility is as important to respondents as open-mindedness. The next one of the skills evaluated shows the identical results. Flexibility is essential for 65% of the respondents and important for 32%. 3% state that it is not very important to be flexible and no one indicate that it is irrelevant. 25

Fig.25: Flexibility Flexibility 32% 0% 3% 65% Frustration tolerance is essential for 59% of the respondents and important for 38%. The same amount, compared to the previous results, of 3% state that it is not very important to have frustration tolerance and 0% state irrelevant. Fig.26: Frustration tolerance Frustration tolerance 38% 3% 0% 59% Ambiguity tolerance is a competence, which can be seen in relation to frustration tolerance, but it is assessed as less important compared to the previous results. Specific, is essential for 26

41% of the respondents. With 53%, over a half state, that it is important and each 3% state that it is not very important or even irrelevant. Fig.27: Ambiguity tolerance Ambiguity tolerance 53% 3% 3% 41% The final key skill indicated in the survey is intercultural sensitivity. With 59%, over a half of the respondents state that it is essential and important to nearly one third of the respondents with 32%. No one of them state that intercultural sensitivity is not very important or even irrelevant. Fig.28: Intercultural sensitivity Intercultural sensitivity 32% 9% 0% 59% 27

Summarising, communication is one of the most important competences regarding the feedback gathered from the respondents of the partner countries. Soft skills are assessed to be important skills for work contexts. Empathy and respect are even more essential than communication in the mother tongue. Also, self-confidence, open-mindedness and flexibility are as important as communication in foreign languages. It is also obvious that competences in relation to work related challenges are in demand. Here to mention are frustration and ambiguity tolerance, but also intercultural sensitivity and social and civic competences. Results, which are not as important as the previous mentioned ones are diverse, specific mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology as well as cultural awareness and expression. 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS In view of the analysis of the results from the partner countries regarding the competence areas of entrepreneurship skills focusing on CSR, knowledge & skills in the rural tourism development (related to SME`s), intercultural competences and key competences, following conclusions can be drawn for the development of the other outputs: In general, it has to be noted that the competence analysis included a long list of competences, from which, a majority was assessed as essential or important (see Table 1, p. 5f.). Therefore, it is recommended to combine areas, such as entrepreneurship competences with key skills. Based on this approach, the following suggestions and recommendations are described, including competences assessed as essential: For the area of entrepreneurship competences special emphasis should be given to personal skills such as problem solving and decision making. In the area of management skills marketing and stakeholder focus are strongly represented. As CSR is also assessed as important for entrepreneurship, it is suggested to combine CSR with stakeholder focus and marketing, e.g. for development of marketing strategy and building relationships with customers as well as networking. According to the results, digital skills are not assessed as essential for the promotion of entrepreneurship. However, as the results show, they are important skills for nowadays professional activities, especially in Romania, but for the present context, these areas don`t necessarily have to be linked. Knowledge & skills in the rural tourism development (related to SME`s) are assessed as important, especially for the Romanian tourism. Customer service is essential for tourism in 28

general, but especially for rural tourism development. Although CSR and environmental responsibility seems to be less essential for rural tourism than for entrepreneurship, it can be an advantage for SME. For market supply/demand and customer segmentation, as well as for marketing and promotion, the contents should be adapted to each partner country, as their landscapes and touristic areas are various. Safety is another important issue. For this area it is also important to take into consideration country specific differences regarding safety regulations. Intercultural competences are important for tourism contexts. Here to mention are intercultural awareness and communication. The latter can be linked to the key skills from the following section. Knowledge of organisational culture and members (guests') culture on the other hand seems to be more specific. Regarding key skills, the unambiguous results of the soft skills show that a special emphasis should be given to given to personal attitudes such as self-confidence, respect and empathy, as well as open-mindedness. The last two can again be linked to intercultural competences such as intercultural awareness. Flexibility and frustration tolerance can be identifed as employability skills and locatd in the area of personal, respectively soft skills. 29