UAL-Junta de Andalucía Agreement for academic internships in the Territorial Delegation of Tourism.

On 9 and 10 December, the University of Almeria hosted two relevant events for sectors such as employment and entrepreneurship, and tourism: the EYE Forum and the Innovation and Knowledge Forum ‘Origin and Destination’.

The rector of the UAL, Carmelo Rodríguez, valued the development of these two events on campus, stressing that “entrepreneurship, employment and youth unemployment are of utmost concern to society and as such the university is not left out of this concern, since one of our strategic lines is the graduation of our students. What better breeding ground for potential job seekers than the university itself”.

Rodriguez also stressed that the Forum of Innovation and Knowledge ‘Origin and Destination’ developed in the UAL in the framework of the Chair signed with the Ministry of Sustainable Tourism, “demonstrates the need for a tourism that respects the environment and at the same time innovative, more modern, much more adapted to the times and to what society demands more and more knowledgeable”.

The Vice-president of the Junta and Minister of Tourism, Juan Marín, also referred to the General Plan for Sustainable Tourism in Andalusia META 2027, “an essential instrument for the management of the destination’s resources and which is committed to sustainability and territorial cohesion, updating the view of the territory and promoting responsible consumption”.

The University of Almeria and the Regional Ministry of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration closed all the details of a joint training project.

Signed by the rector Carmelo Rodríguez and the vice-president Juan Marín, once again an agreement between the UAL and the Junta de Andalucía will have a very positive direct impact on the comprehensive training of students, a project “aimed at the applicability of the theoretical, methodological and technical knowledge acquired” on the campus, a document valid for four years and which includes tutors on both sides. On this occasion, it will allow external academic internships to be carried out at the headquarters of the Territorial Delegation of Tourism in Almeria, thus being aimed at students of the official degree in Tourism offered by the University of Almeria. The aim is that these students apply and complement the knowledge acquired throughout their classroom training, “favouring the acquisition of skills that prepare them for the exercise of professional activities, facilitate their employability and promote their entrepreneurial skills”. On this basis, a document has been drawn up which will be valid for four years and which includes the figure of a tutor for each of the parties, as well as a monitoring committee to ensure that it runs smoothly.

Thus, the Department of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of the Andalusian Regional Government joins the University of Almeria in the quest to train the best professionals, so a training project has been drawn up. It revolves around the general idea of any internship: “to complement your university training and provide you with a deeper knowledge about the competences you will need once you have graduated, acquiring professional experience in real situations and conditions, applying the knowledge, competences and attitudes acquired in the training processes throughout the degree”. More in detail about their specific content, students will be expected to carry out “activities aimed at the applicability of the theoretical, methodological and technical knowledge acquired” on campus, “working in teams and developing the skills and abilities of a professional with the profile of studies of the Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism”.

The objectives set are “to be able to integrate the knowledge acquired in the reality of the tourism sector, knowledge and development of work skills and techniques, in particular, Information and Communication Technologies in terms of Internal Management, information analysis and Tourism Planning, to achieve the ability to manage and analyse tourism from different points of view, as well as different perspectives of the same fact in public-private collaboration, and to learn about the relations of the Tourism Administration with companies and institutions in the sector, especially in the usual procedures of the sector”. To this end, a series of activities have been proposed which include “analysis of tourism indicators for their synthesis and productive development, applying methods of analysis to existing information for the elaboration of new information, with the support of widely disseminated ICTs, applying information systems for the representation of data and generating new approaches, study, analysis and improvement of tourism plans and other elements of intervention, knowledge, application and transmission of tourism regulations, as well as diagnosing the needs and opportunities of tourist destinations in the provincial area”.

The Regional Ministry of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration will designate the people who will carry out the mentoring, who must be linked to it and have the professional experience and knowledge necessary to carry it out effectively. For its part, the University of Almeria undertakes to involve the university teaching staff for the tutoring functions in these external academic placements. Annually, and before the start of the academic year, the UAL will send to the Regional Ministry the list of internships, which will include several key aspects such as the teaching load in hours and credits, the extension in days, the training projects to be carried out by the students and the number of students proposed. In any case, the training project will be designed in accordance with the basic principles of inclusion, equal opportunities, non-discrimination and universal accessibility. In view of the application, the Regional Ministry will analyse the teaching capacity of the service or area where the internship is proposed and will inform the University of Almeria of the annual offer of places.

The University of Almeria will establish procedures for the configuration of the offer, dissemination, application and awarding of curricular external academic placements, guaranteeing the fundamental principles of transparency, publicity, universal accessibility and equal opportunities. Internships will have the duration established by the corresponding syllabus and the timetable will be established by the administrative unit in which they are to be carried out, although it will be ensured that it is compatible with the academic, training, representation and participation activities carried out by students at the UAL. Regarding the monitoring committee, it will coordinate the actions related to the development of the agreement and will be made up of two people from the Regional Ministry of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration and another two people representing the University of Almeria.

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