b2t final handbook

8/7/2019 B2T Final Handbook

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B2T

Business toTourism

Agood practice for organisingexchange business visits in Europe

F I N A L P R O J E C T H A N D B O O K


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Index

introduction

netw orking support

working tea ms

working phases

outputs and results

overall projec t eva luation

B2T as goo d prac tice : how to orga nise b usiness

exchange visits in the Europea n Union

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7


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Sec tion 1 : introd uc tion

Genera l ob jec tiveThis p rojec t a ims at e nc ouraging the excha nge , mob ility and de ba te o n

transversal and common topics of interest, as well as others addressed to

specific sectors, among European employers and employees (area

responsible), ove r the age o f 45 and c om ing from SMEs op erating in d ifferent

countries and sectors of activity, in order to activate synergies and future

business co-operation.

The leve l of pa rticipa tion of the above ta rgets in initiatives for mob ility and

exchange networks is still very low as due to the specific features of the small

and medium size companies in terms of size and resources; they have fewer

opportunities to participate in such programmes (most of which address

youth) and face more difficulties in adapting their current skills and

competences. Consequently they are clearly more affected by social

exc lusion a nd the fa ir of losing their job s.

The p rojec t w as c arried out b etw een Novemb er 2004 and Novemb er 2005 and

wa s implem ente d by a partnership o f four orga nisa tions from Spa in, Ita ly,Greec e a nd Finland.

Spec ific ob jec tives

To sup port c ontinuous upda ting o f the p rofe ssiona l skills of o lderspec ialists (ove r 45) sub jec t to a ma jor risk of soc ial exc lusion (re-

qua lific a tion, labour ad justment p lans, etc ) includ ing linguistic skills.

To c ontribute to an in-situ knowled ge of the e c ono mic rea lity of thesec tor or c urrent situation/ trea tme nt of the pa rticular a rea of spec iality

in other co untries which c an be transferred to the ir own c om pa ny orsector.

To va lorise knowled ge ac quired through yea rs of business expe rienceand in this wa y, share a nd excha nge informa tion in orde r to transfer

goo d p rac tic es.

To be awa re o f a nd sup port sp in-off initiatives (new business lines initiallyset up inside c om panies) throug h business c oo peration and a c c ed ing

to w hat o thers are doing.

To p rop ose to the p ub lic authorities, c onc rete ac tions relate d to thede tec ted need s for ea c h sec tor, that c ould further help be tter

p rog ramm ing of the initiatives and g rant p rog ramm es for Sme s a t either

the loc a l, reg iona l or transna tional level.

The ab ove objec tives are to be a c hieved throug h a Prog ram me o f exc hang e

visits , being d esigned and imp lem ente d b y a p artnership of 4 Memb er Sta tes

(Spain, Italy, Greec e a nd Finland ), ea c h to be organised and hosted by o ne o f

the partners in c lose c oo peration w ith loc a l-reg ional stakeholde rs (resea rc h

bod ies, pub lic Autho rities, etc ). The p rog ramm e a ims a t enc ourag ing

netwo rking supp ort, deb a te a nd rec iproc a l unde rstand ing o f the p resent a nd

future o f the d ifferent sec to rs/ business top ics of inte rest, op erating in severa l

c ountries, taking advantage o f synergies tha t c ould a rise in terms of p ote ntial

future b usiness c o-op eration a greeme nts, c ontac ts, etc .


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Sec tion 2 : networking supp ort

On the European level it is important that actors in different kind of projects learn to

op erate tog ethe r, and no t just as indep end ent a c tors in d ifferent c ountries and cultures.

Co-operation as real partners demands much more than just working together. It is a

knowledge creation process based on trust. A pilot project is a knowledge creation task

on w hich the p artners a re d ep end ent on eac h othe r. Such trust does not exist betw eenthe organizations, it only exists between individuals, the representatives of the

organizations.

This is why it is so imp ortant to o rganize o pportunities for fac e-to-fac e m ee tings and

support for networking p roc esses before, during and a fter the m ee tings.

Networking

support for

participanting

companies

List o f the ways of supporting ne tworking

among participants (companies,

p rofessiona ls, etc):

Before the business visit: phonec a lls, advertising letters, e-mails withintroductions, welcome letter,

group e-ma il list. Organise a first

informa l meeting to give a ll

pa rtic ipa nts a c hanc e to meet

eac h other.

During the business visit: providethem with a list of na mes, conta c t

da ta , photos and p rofessiona l

profiles.

After the business visit : Post-p rog ram me eva luation, group-

email list for discussion, collected

photos on server, circulate contact

information of national co-

ordinators. Keep in touch with

participants for further activities

organized by the national

coordinators.


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Networkingsupport for

the c o-

ordinators

A transnational networking process needs

matchmakers but before the matchmakers

are ab le to help others they need a go od ,

ac tive ne two rk that is based on t rust.

Growing up in different cultural environments

gives us different cognitive maps. Beforepeople can trust each other they have to

learn how the others are thinking and acting.

Misunderstanding the behaviour of the others

is often behind bad or poor experiences of

transnational c o-op eration. To understand

and to work together effectively needs an

open, relaxed atmosphere and lot of

communication.

A good transna tiona l netw ork is a p la tform for

new, c rea tive idea s, the c hanc e to lea rn fromothers and an opportunity to do better,

Europea n business together.

At the beg inning of a

project

Orga nise a fac e-to-fac e kic k-off meeting , where the co-

ordinato rs can g et to know eac h other and ag ree o n the

basic rules for the p rojec t.

Defining all terms, and all key words because there are

cultural differences in understanding the content of the

words.

Create a group e-mail for discussions and for effective

communication.Create a www-page with the opportunity for

ma intenance by eac h one of the national co-ordinators.

During a p rojec t Business visit prop osa ls via e-ma il for c omments. Sha re

idea s and experienc es via e-ma il or on the op en

www.platform.

Continuous eva luation o f the events.

Phone calls before business visits: a courtesy phone call

after the business visit.

At the end o f a p rojec t Close the m ee ting a nd agree on sha ring ta sks in writing

The final report..


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Sec tion 3 : working teams

Ab out our organisa tion

CREA, is a non-profit employers organisation located in the

autonomo us northern Comm unity of Aragon, Spa in.

CREA rep resents more tha n the 80% of the to ta l ente rp rises through

its assoc iate te rritorial and multi-sec to rial businesses assoc iat ions as

we ll as the b igge st loc a l com panies op erating in the region.

CREA provides a wide range of services from training &

employment to tailored guidance in different business areas and

addressed to different targets, carrying out periodical socio-

economic surveys, providing European information through an EIC

(Euro Info Centre) hosted by the organisation, and promoting /

participating in different European Programmes, etc. All this is doneby a multidisciplinary staff of approx. 55 employees with different

profiles.

B2T Spanish team

Mr. Fernando Ga rc ia d e Le niz. Projec t supervisor

Mr. Juan Carlos Dehesa. Project coordinator

Ms. Natha lie Ga rc ia d e Le niz. Projec t tec hnic ianMs. Ca rolina Alvarez. Projec t tec hnician

Ms. Cristina Ma rin. Administrative support

Ms. Beln Pa lomar. Ad ministrat ive support

Ms. Ma ria Lop ez. Adm inistrative support

Confederacin d e

Empresarios de Aragn

(CREA)

Avd a . Ran illas 20

50018 Zarag oza

Spain

Phone

(34) 976 460066

Fax

(34) 976 460136

email

innova c ion@c rea.es

Corporate logo

Visit us at!

www. crea.es

www.creaprojects.info


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Ab out our organisa tionStud ioCe ntroVeneto (SCV) is a p rivate c onsulting orga nisa tion for Sma ll

Businesses.

Sta rted in 1968 in Vicenza as an Information Servic e Burea u fo r SMEs, itha s evolved into a mu lti-servic e network for SMEs, offe ring Training,

Personne l, Qua lity, Ma rketing , Translat ions, Environm ent, E-Learning a nd

other foc used service s.

SCV ha s bee n w orking o n a dults training ac tivities and resea rc h field fo r

SMEs, entrep reneurs, mana gers, and the training managers of sme 's

Associations, for more than thirty years, in northern, central and southern

Italy.

Now adays SCV spec ializes in resea rch, training a nd c onsulting in the field

of Busine ss Transfer.

The founder Ton i Brune llo is an o fficia l memb er of t he Europea n Expert

Group on Transfer of Businesses.

He ha s designe d the first Europ ea n goo d prac tic e o n the ma tter-

kit.brunello and has developed many experiences/project in

c oo peration with Institutions, Chamb ers of C om me rc e, Trade Assoc iation,

and the world o f educ ation.

Stud iocentroveneto has wide experienc e o f Europ ea n p rojec ts in the field

of tourism, the design, implementation and realization of a multimedia

product, the design and implementation of e-learning content for

business transfer courses, and networking projects even with the EasternEuropean countries.

B2T Ita lian team

Toni Brunello, projec t coo rd inator

Paolo Zarame lla , p rojec t tec hnic ian

Elena Bertina to, p rojec t tec hnic ian

Ma ria Gennaro, Administra tive support

StudioCentroVeneto

Via G.B. Imperiali 77

Vicenza 36100

Italy

Phone

(0039) 0444 51 27 33

Fax

(0039) 0444 51 24 20

email

info@studioc entroveneto .co m

Visit us at!www.studiocentroveneto.com


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Ab out our organisa tionThe University of Vaasa is located in western Finland. Vaasa University's Centre

for Continuing Education and Research Institute united at the beginning of

2001. The name of this new c ent re is the Lev n Institute. The a im o f the Lev nInstitute is to organize educational and research services and development

p rog ram mes with the o utside fund ing. It ha d a sta ff of 45 in Dec em be r 2005

Educational services

The Lev n Institute o f the University of Vaasa is designed to me et the nee ds of

the various faculties of the University and to participate in the development

and cha nge in the soc iety. The Levn Institute d eve lops its ac tivities through

strong co-operation with different organizations, transferring and implementing

university research information with special emphasis on entrepreneurship and

internationalization.

Research services

The Institute c ond uc ts ap plied resea rch w ith c onsideration for the needs of thec ustome rs. The c ustomers c onsists of p riva te c om panies and the pub lic sec to r,

ma inly the ministries and reg iona l authorities.

In recent years, the research has mostly consisted of evaluations, follow-up

studies and development projects. Essential fields of research have been

environmental administration, eco-competitiveness, research into rural areas,

and evaluations of various types of EU-funded projects and initiatives. In

addition, research papers on marketing, logistics and R&D have been

produc ed for the p rivate sec tor.

B2T Finish teamMs Helena Etelaa ho. Projec t c oo rd inator

Ms Yvonne Hog holm. Projec t technic ian

Ms Nina Jokiaho . Ad ministrative support.

Ms Merja Sjoberg. Administrative support.

University of Vaasa

Levn Institute

Wolffintie 35

65200 Vaasa

Finalnd

Phone

(358) 6 324 8111

Fax

(358) 6 324 8350

email

helena.ete laaho @uwa sa.fi

Visit us at!

http://www.uwasa.fi/intern

ational/

http://www.uwasa.fi/levon

/www/index.php


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Ab out our organisa tionThe Hellenic M ana gem ent Assoc iation (HMA) wa s found ed in 1962. It is a

non-profit organization, which aims at the dissemination, development

and promotion of the principles, methods and practice ofco ntemporary ma nageme nt.

Today, HMA c ounts 4000 me mb ers, 400 of which a re enterprises and

organisations, while the rest are individuals, mainly chief and senior

exec utive officers, businessmen, university professors and others.

HMA nowadays incorporates seven institutes dealing with specific

ma nag eme nt op erations.

Ap a rt from its c entral offices in Athens, HMA a lso has reg iona l branc hes

in Macedonia, the Peloponnese and Western Greece, Crete and

Thessa lia . HMA c urren tly em p loys a sta ff of approxima te ly 70 peo p le,while at the same time co-operating with 535 trainers. All services of

HMA ha ve b een rec ently ce rtified a c c ording to the p rerequisites of ISO

9001:1994

HMA has special departments for European Union Programs and

anothe r for Innova tion a nd Tec hno logy. Their p rior a im is to e xploit

Community and Innovative Programs within the framework of the

general purpose of the Association, namely the promotion of

Management in Greece and the support of Greek enterprises through

ed uc ationa l and informa tive ac tivities.

B2T Greek team

Yannis Ka livas, Projec t Mana ger

Lina Tsagaraki, Dissemination Ac tivities

Giorgos Sarris, Projec t Coordina to r

Go fa Fanianna Projec t M anager Assistant

Aneza Tsiligiri Projec t Ma na ger Assista nt

Hellenic Ma nage ment

Association

Ionias 200 Ave and Iakovaton

111 44 k. Athens

Greece

Phone

(0030) 2102112000

Fax

(0030) 2102112020

email

koinotika@eed e.gr

Corporative logo

Visit us a t!

www.eede.gr


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Sec tion 4 : working phases

Phase 1: Projec t managementObjectives:

Planning the projec t tomee t its ob jectives within the

given time schedule and

budget. Co-ordination and

co ntinuous mo nitoring of

ac tivities, tasks and bud ge t.

Ensuring qualitymanagement.

Ensuring the ac tiveinvolvement of eac h partner

in the project

implementation.

Preparation o f final rep ort forthe EC

tasks:

Prepa rat ion of a de tailedworkplan

Prepa ration and signing ofthe c ontrac ts by the

partners Periodic reports on activities

and financial reports

Organisation of kick-offmee tings and steering

com mittee me etings.

Compilation of agenda,

arrangem ent of prac tical

details, compilation of

meeting m inutes

Prepa rat ion of final rep ort Review o f the w ork plan

after each mee ting &

business visit if ne c essa ry

Working m ethods:

Organisation oftransnational meetings

betw een the pa rtners

Continuous com munica tionthrough telephone, fax, e-

ma il and the p rivate section

of the projec t web site

Mana gem ent of q uality is anintegral part of the

managem ent of the project.

Too ls and tec hnique s for the

managem ent of the

projects will be used for all

ab ove. ( Gantt diagram,

Pert diagram , electronics

too ls ).

Pha se 2 : design o f visitsObjectives:

Analysis of local SME needsrelated to the different

topics to be app roac hed

during t he business visits

Contac t and involve themo st releva nt stakeholders

within eac h co untry relative

to the d ifferent top ics

Design and develop aco mmo n working

method ology, tools and

criteria (definition of

users/ ta rgets requ irem ents )

for identifying and selec ting

the pa rticipa nts to a ttend

the different business visits

Definition the final top icsand programmes for the four

business visits to b e

organised in the four

countries

Tasks:

Kick-off mee ting (M2,Saragossa, ES)

Carry out initial research andlocal contac t

Prep are to ols and c riteria foridentifying p articipant s at

the loca l/regional level

Conduc t research Define prog ramm es and

roles for each

participant/collaborator

Working m ethods:

The wo rk to b e do ne in eac hcountry and the co ntac ts to

be involved will be p aid to

concreted ac cording to the

numbe r of SMEs. Attent ion

will be paid to the c hoice of

those tha t will take pa rt in

the visits in order to ensure

participation by different

branc hes, urba n and rural

areas, old and new

enterprises and enterprises

that have been established

by women and people with

disabilities. During the kick-off m eeting

an a greement should b e

reac hed c once rning the

strateg y for the c om pilation

of the resea rch and t he

local involvement of o ther

stakeholders. Moreover, the

pa rtners should ag ree on a

com mon c riteria for

selecting homo geneous

groups of pa rticipa nts aswe ll as in using

homog eneous promotional

material for dissemination.

The final them es for the visitsand the c ontent of the four

program me s should a lso b e

conc reted during the kick-

off, dep end ing on the results

of the initial loca l resea rch

and ac cording to the

different stakeholders.


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Pha se 3 : imp lementa tion o f visits

Objectives:

Identification, analysis andselect ion of p articipants for

the four business visits

Organisation o f the fo urbusiness visits to be held inthe 4 co untries

Assessment of the businessvisits by the end-users

(pa rticipa nts), pa rtners and

other stakeholders and

collaborators Comp arison of da ta a nd

c onc lusions from the visits

and issue of a final

transnationa l report, a

project handbo ok

containing the conclusions

and recom mend ations and

a first d raft o f a

met hod ology fo r orga nisingfuture b usiness exchange

prgramm es ad dressed to

elderly people.

Tasks :

Preparation/adaptation ofdissemination and

promo tional ma terial to start

the selection procedure Final selec tion o f

participants

Orga nisa tion o f fou r businessvisits to b e he ld in Vice nza ,

IT, Athens, GR, Va asa , FI and

Saragossa, ES.

Assesme nt a nd issue of finalvisit reports

Working m ethods:

Eac h pa rtner, in ea chc ount ry will be respo nsible

for identifying SMEs that

co uld p articipa te in thebusiness tou rism prog ramm e

and c ontac ting them further

by em ail, mail and other

normal corporative

channels.

The group s would b e ma deup of a prox. 40 pa rticipa nts

being selected by the

partners according to their

interest in and experienc e

of the particular topic Eac h p artner in eac h

c ount ry will be respo nsible

for editing the final

programmes and preparing

the nec essary promot ionalmaterial

Each partner will also takeca re of the nec essary

human and logistica l

resou rce s fo r the v isits

developm ent, such a s

appointing

tutors/moderators and being

respo nsible for p ractic al

arrangements such as social

programme,

acc ommodation and

meeting place (s).

Selec ted pa rticip ants will beapp ointed to evaluate a llthe ma terial d uring the visits

Phase 4: DisseminationObjectives:

Informing a wide public ofthe p rojec ts ob jectives and

the expected outcomes.

Fac ilitating a cc ess to theprojec ts outco mes

Tasks:

Dissem ination p lan Developm ent of

dissemination tools

Dissem ination in pa rtnersorganisations

National disseminationthrough press releases,

targeted mail, contacts

Developm ent of a projectwebsite

International disseminationthrough web site, new sletter,

etc .

Organisation of the nationalbusiness visits in the four

countries

Working m ethods:

The dissem ination p lan willbe d esigned at the

beg inning of the p roject and

will be p resente d a nd

develope d during the kick-

off in Spa in.

Promotiona l mate rialincluding leaflets,

programmes, posters, etcwill be de signed in 5

languages.

The p romo ter will de sign anddevelop a project web site

tha t will include ba sic

informa tion o n the projec t

objectives, activities,

pa rtners and expecte d

results


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Sec tion 5 : outputs and results

End -visit reportsThe rep orts a re to be based on final d iscussions

and evaluation, and which are to b e c overed by

a report written by each group itself andcomplemented by evaluation from partners and

beneficiaries.

Each report will include an initial overall

desc ription of the theme be ing app roached a nd

the ma in d iscussions, conc lusions, key

recommendations and potential agreements

that could b e reac hed.

B2T as a good p rac tic e Don t wa ste this experienc e! You shouldd issem ina te it . This is the rec om mend ation the

memb ers of the four tea ms, who orga nized the

business visits, that was received by participants

who w ent throug h the B2T.

I wouldnt believe it was possible to get such a

goo d feeling a nd such a confidence in unknown

operators in such a short time an Italian

pa rtic ipa nt wrote in an e -ma il.

Tha t s why a deta iled ana lysis is presented here,

by looking bac k to the single step s.

The a im of the p resenta tion is to give p otential

ac tors of future B2Ts som e experienc e of a very

practical tool with which to organise it

suc c essfully.

So the guide is struc tured as a vadem ec um, a

log, useful to step-by-step manage the single

moments in the organisation process.

B2T p rojec t w ebsite

A project website has been designed for public dissemination purposes of the projects

ob jec tives and a wo rking p lan with which to ac cess the p a rtia l and fina l outp uts, as we ll as

for comm unication, private exchange and ma nagement am ong the p artnership.

The site has proved to be quite useful for informing, identifying , and selec ting pa rticipa nts

for the 4 business visits, and as a meeting place for them where to access detailed

programmes, professional profiles, end-visit reports and speeches of each visit among other

utilities.

Visit it a t : http :/ /www.b2t.org


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Sec tion 6 : overall projec t evaluation (I)

THE FIRST STUDY VISITtook place in Vicenza, Italy between 7th and 10th of April 2005, organized by

Stud io Centro Veneto. This wa s the first mee ting in a series of four mee tings p lanned to b e he ld in

the projec t period .

The first p art of the meeting w as de voted to presenting a nd ana lyzing projec t objec tives and thewa y the me eting wo uld b e run. The sub jec t o f the meeting , b usiness transfer w as d isc ussed with

the p articipa nts and w orking g roup s were formed in order to take a dva ntag e o f the multinational

c ha rac te r of the ir c om position . The stud y visits c ontributed to this d isc ussion.

As the eva lua tion rep ort reflec ts, the p articipa nts c ritic ism it is impo rta nt tha t the ma jority of the m,

were ve ry interested in the subjec t a nd the w ay it wa s trea ted . They a pprec iate d the idea of

wo rking in trans-nationa l group s, and having a n op po rtunity to exc hang e know led ge , expe rienc e

and propositions on how to cope with a problem (business transfer), which seems to be more

common and problematic than they could imagine until then, not having discussed it with other

European co-citizens. In that sense, the project objective of promoting a common European

c ulture for peo p le from SMEs tha t d o no t have the m ea ns to do it by them selves, see ms to be ve rypromising.

The sec ond part was ma inly devoted to a sem inar that wa s op en to the p artic ipa nts and the

general public of the local community (different actors in economic life, entrepreneurs,

c onsultants, de c ision makers, etc .). After the introd uc tory phase and the group s wo rkshop s in the

first part of the meeting, the seminar was an extension of the subject of the meeting with

theoretical presentations and analyses of case studies. Although very tough on time

ma nagem ent, it is c ha rac teristic fo r business peo p le; the participa nts expressed their interest a nd

had the opp ortunity to expa nd the ir bila tera l meetings with the prospec t of future c ooperation.

The main c onc lusions were:

The overall ap prec iation of the mee ting wa s c onside red po sitive.

The sa tisfac tion of the pa rticipa nts c onc erning the ob jec tives of the p rojec t wa s very high.

The metho dology wa s c onside red very interesting; exchange with pe op le from other

c ountries is the b est wa y to m ove forwa rd tow a rds a c om mon Europ e .

The organisation of the me ting wa s very effec tive and effic ient.

An imp ortant rec omm enda tion would be:

To give a ttention to the ac tively involving the pa rtic ipa nts in the events of the mee ting. One

aspect that reflects this involvement is the number of remarks that were made concerning

d ifferent a spe c ts of the mee ting, stemm ing from the subjec t to how the d ifferent events c ould b eorganised in order to increase the benefits they could get from them. In that sense it was

impo rtant input for the m ee tings to fo llow a fter Vicenza .


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Sec tion 6 : overall projec t evaluation (II)

THE SECOND STUDY VISITtook place in Vaasa in Finland, from the 16th to 19th of June,

2005. It was organized by the Universty of Vaasa, and the subject of the meeting was

Entrep reneurship vs intra-entrep reneurship . The agend a of the meeting follow ed tha t o f

the first meeting in Italy, as it was appreciated that it was the best way of organising it.Stud y visits, group w ork, sem inars op en to the p ub lic etc we re the e lements of the

meeting. We must say, that apart from the partners personnel, the participants from the

d ifferent countries we re d ifferent to those in the first mee ting. This mea nt tha t more time

was devoted to explaining the rules of the game, in order to help them gain the

ma ximum bene fit from the m eeting. This is one imp ortant innova tive aspec t of the p rojec t,

because it was not only the different subjects covered in the project but also the total

number and the variety of peo ple who p artic ipa ted in the mee tings.

The m ain conc lusions were:

The ob jec tives were ac hieved and the pa rtic ipa nts ap prec iate d their involveme nt

in a very positive manner.

Som e prop osa ls we re ma de to loc a l organisa tions as we ll as to the prom ote r of the

projec t for rea dy-made solutions for the sub jec t und er discussion.

This wa s to be expec ted as the peop le involved a re a c tive in business and a re sea rching

for ea sy-to-app ly solutions ; their time is so limited tha t they would ra the r ac t tha n d iscuss.

All of the pa rtic ipa nts ap preciated the chance to exc hange expe riences with

collea gues from othe r c ountries fac ing the same or simila r prob lem s, which p roves tha t

the innovative idea of combining business with tourism and the composition of trans-

Europ ea n g roup s wo rked very we ll.

An important Rec ommendation would be:

All peop le that pa rtic ipa te in these kinds of meetings should have know led ge of a t

least one fo reign language, e.g. Eng lish.

As a ma tter of fac t, com munication skills due to d ifferent lang uages or lack of knowled ge

of at least of one foreign language, seems to be an important obstacle, in these kind of

projects.


16/26

Sec tion 6 : overall projec t eva luation (III)

THE THIRD STUDY VISITtook place in the very south of Europe. The island of Crete , HMA

organised the third meeting of the project during the period 14-18 September 2005, on

the sub jec t o f Qua lity in the Tourism Sec tor .

The m ee ting w as orga nised a round a mix of stud y visits, g roup w ork, b ila tera l mee tingsand a public conference/seminar. A visit to the famous archaeological site of Knossos

(Minoan civilization) completed the activities of the meeting. Again, the whole meeting

was run in the same m anner as the two p revious mee tings. It was necessary to present the

objective, discuss the agenda and explain what and how to do it, in order to gain the

most from the p articipa tion in this me eting.

The c la rific a tion wa s ma de, tha t q ua lity in the to urism sec tor is a com bination of p roc esses

and huma n rela tionships and tha t p rob lem s with qua lity a re simila r everywhere.


The c om bination of theory and case studies wa s a very imp ortant subjec t and kep thighly the ne w g roup of p articipa nts interested in this me eting.

The reinforc ing of internationa l netw orks betw een participa nts wa s a very good

aspect

the time devoted to the bilate ral meetings wa s enoug h to promo te the

c oope ration betw een pa rtners.

The p rog ramm e ga ve the op po rtunity to develop new ide as, hopes for the future

and the possibility for benc hma rking.

It wa s imp ortant that the pa rtic ipa nts had an op portunity to d isc uss and exc hang e

their experienc es during the m ee ting.

Some important rec ommendations would be:

To offer relevant supporting ma teria l such as doc ume nts, oral p resenta tions

printouts, etc.

Reg ard ing the time sched ule, pa rticipa nts sugge sted there should be less free time

should be given. This is a norma l rea c tion, if we take into account tha t m any interesting

c ultura l events related to the c ountry have to be included in a very short time period .

Language skills we re aga in ra ised in this me et ing. All partic ipants should spea k and

understand the eng lish language

A possible explanation for this could be the age of the participants, most of them being

over 45 years old, which means that they belong to a generation that has seen the

beginning of the construction of the European Community. But, although it was a small

p rob lem , we think that those who had som e language difficulties, would b enefit from the

assista nc e o f translators in some events.


17/26

Sec tion 6 : overal projec t evaluation (IV)

THE FINAL VISITwas held in Zaragoza, Spain at the premises of the promoter. CREA has

organised the meeting between the 20th and 23rd of October 2005. The sub jec t of this

meeting, Management of Innovation and Logistics was very important for participants

from SMEs. CREA o rga nised two c onferenc es, that we re o pen to the p ub lic , and too kaccount of the experienc e g ained from the p revious meetings.

The study visits and the b ila teral meetings com p leted the p rog ramm e. If it happened in

som e c ases that the theo retica l pa rt was oc casiona lly heavy, this de pended more o n the

c harac teristics of the spea ker than on how the p rog ramm e was built.

Actually, due to the effect of meeting people (some already known from previous visits);

business op portunities bec ame rea l in just a few minutes. The sub jec t o f the mee ting itself

was at the very edge of modern business activity and took globalization and the

internationaliza tion o f ec onom ic ac tivity into a ccount.

As a prom ote r ma nager, CREA ha s the know-how to further develop B2T and extend the

partic ipa tion in the p rog ramm e, inc luding the newc om ers to Europea n Comm unity,

letting the European countries know what has been done is a wonderful example ofbuild ing up a new Europ ea n spirit.


The tourism visits supported interpersona l d iscussions among the pa rtic ipa nts.

The ag enda wa s we ll scheduled with spe c ific content.

Goo d ba lanc e in terms of time spe nt between theoretical and prac tica l sessions

The content of the log istics wa s mo re relevant than the pa rticipa nts expec ted . It

covered different aspects and the case studies were from different application areas and

gave information and idea s for future use. The b ila teral me etings we re very important, and a llow ed imp roved partnership in

the future.

Some important rec ommendations would be:

With regard to the rec om menda tions ma de by the partic ipa nts in Zarag oza , these

are very simila r to the p revious meetings even though the p a rticipa nts we re d ifferent.

Langua ge skills we re eleme nta ry

Relevant doc umenta tion supp ort has to be solic ited

The participa nts would have preferred a less intensive prog ramm e

Rea dy-to-use solutions for business peop le would have been we lc om ed

Hospita lity and friend ship amo ng partic ipants with d ifferent cultura l background s

proved to be the means of enhancing Europ ea n co nnec tivity.

Summarizing the a bove p resenta tion w e p resent in the form o f a SWOT ana lysis, which

ma kes part of the rep ort.


18/26

Sec tion 6 : overall projec t eva luation. SWOT analysis (I)

STRENGTHS

Basic p rojec t objec tives have been well covered , that is:

o Useful because it g ives the possibility to meet peop le and travel in new countries ma king it ewith fo reign c lients/ partners and sta rt new relat ionships.

o In a short time period (less than a year) about 200 people have been actually involved ienha nc ing the ir awa reness of Europ ea n co op eration.

o More than 200 peop le have b een involved in the projec t pa rtic ipa ting in the loc al co nfereop portunity to m ee t pa rtners from othe r Europ ea n countries.

o It has made p rofessiona ls c om ing from SMEs awa re o f other cultures and d ifferbusiness/cooperation.

o A good chanc e to mee t ea c h other outside the lab our environment a nd start networking abefore institutions).

o The c larific a tion tha t qua lity in the tourism sec tor is a com binat ion o f proc esses and human Organisational aspects:

o Very good impression, wide knowledge among organizers and great overall organizabusiness visits.

o Very high ap prec iation of the professiona lism and c om mitment of the orga niza tion/ coo rd ino Very effec tive organization of d ifferent multi-sub jec t mee tings in d ifferent c ountries and c o

variety of peop le involved in each mee ting.

Fee lings/ Emotiona l aspec ts:

o A good chance to meet peop le from the hum an perspec tive; the basis for further business o They business visits had a goo d impac t on tw o leve ls: on the p ersona l level it was an interes

amusing experience. On the human level very enriching, and professionally promising

o The m ix betw een tourism and business helped to fac ilita te a bette r relationship amo ng the gave more p ossibilities for effec tive b usiness c ontac ts in the future

Perspec tive aspec ts:

o A very good example of how to organise interactive business and tourism projects, involvpe op le a nd subjec ts.


19/26

Sec tion 6 : overall projec t eva luation. SWOT analysis (II)

OPPORTUNITIES

To orga nise simila r projec ts with a sec tora l ap proa ch to mee t p rofessiona ls with simila r transversal topics such as externalisation, etc

Meetings should focus on top ics tha t c onc ern all participa nts, such as glob a lisa tion (fo r instacom petition from Asian Countries, etc Need to improve linguistic skills among Europ ea n p rofessiona ls To m eet tea ms with conc rete interests and be a b le to cooperate (not only benefit themselve To involve loc a l business assoc ia tions, chamb ers of c om merce, e tc , know ing their com panies Participants should come from different areas of Europe (i.e. from North Europe, West Europ

East Europ e a nd South Europ e) in orde r to fac ilitate d ifferent c ultures/ menta lities, comprehe

exchanges among EC memb ers

To o rganise a Europea n wide senior consultant network to prom ote Europ ea n com pet itivene Use this experienc e to c rea te a transnational netwo rk of o rganisa tions tha t w ill promo te such

To d eve lop an invento ry of exam ples of good prac tice for simila r projec ts and c ase stud ies.

WEAKNESSES

Groups with a hete rog eneous profile d oes not a llowconc rete synergies, in a short time p eriod .

Shorter dura tion of each programm e for morefruitful relationships although this would depend on

the top ic being ad dressed .

Mediterranean countries may have found toomuc h theory and not enough c ase studies in othe r

contexts, which might have been a great help. Lack of Eng lish speaking among Spanish

participa nts in p articular.

More time devo ted to interpersona l me etings. Written m ate rial to b e d elivered in adva nce.

THREATS

- This prog ramm e w ill always bring aparticipa nts a lthoug h not in a sho

- Offering such a programme forpeop le to relax, meaning not tak

it.

- To lose its charac ter und er the pmo re spec ific sub jec t ma tter.

-The foreign language skillsparticipating in the project m

relucta nce to ta ke p art.


20/26


21/26

Sec tion 7 : B2T as a g ood p rac tice (II)

Phase and sub-

phasesActions and sub-actions Log ica l base for

validationAdvised spec ific

featuresSelec ted pa rticipa nts:

Selec ted pa rticipa nts:


Advic e 4: A go od single group of 10

peo ple co uld b e c omp osed as follows.

(As far as possible, people should come

from different geographic areas of every

c oun try involved). Then loo k for:

- 5 networkers. E. g. members of business

assoc iations, cha mb ers of c om me rc e or

of other service organisations, as

func tiona ries or as representa tives; or

business c onsulta nts.

- 2 field p eop le: peop le pa rticu larly

expe rienc ed in a spe c ific issue on a

prac tica l field (e. g. ent repreneurs).

- 2 theoretica l experts: peo ple ha ving a

pa rticularly dee p knowledg e on a

spe cific issue, on a theo retica l point o f

view. Look fo r such pe op le in the

Universities, in researc h institu tes.

- 1 jolly participant: look for a person

worth of being p art of such a group

- 5 networkers: look for business

associations or chambers of

commerce.

- 2 field people: publish articles or

new s, ad vertise, g ive interviews,

and look for self-selected

entrepreneurs.

- 2 theoretical experts: publish

articles or news, give inte rview s,

use the University c hannels, look

for self-selec ted expe rts, then

ac tually select t hem .

- 1 jolly pa rtic ipa nt: look for a

pe rson wo rth of b eing pa rt of

suc h a g roup a s you like.


Country Participants

Background (cont.):

Pa rtic ipa nts shou ld

ensure c ontribution of

valuable experience and

knowledge exchange.

Advic e 5: If nece ssary, chec k their age

(e.g . over 45).

- Age: There co uld be at most

two pe op le less then 45.

Pha se 2.

Organisationa l a ttitude. Participa nts must

ac tually com e to the visit (so ta king som e

of their time o f 4-5 da ys). They m ust b e

suppo rted in their need to c omm unica te

and exchange knowledge and

experienc es, and co nseq uent business

developm ent p otentiality.

Pha se 2.

Organisationa l, prac tica l needs.

Ensure a ny need to g et a ctua l

presenc e of pa rticipa nts with the

required skills du ring the pla nned

business visits time.

Phase 2.

Get the final lists of e xpec ted

pa rticipa nts for the 4-5 da y

business visits.

Ad vice 7: Prior forma l reg istration : get ape rsona lly signed pa pe r from the

pa rtic ipants to e nsure t hat they rea lly will

com e for the planned time and duration.

Potent ial participa nts should b e p repared

to p ay for their own expenses co ming

from their po tential forfait (e.g. trave l

tickets).

Participants should sign a visitconfirmation.

Get signed co nfirma tions.

Advic e 8: Alert a t least 1 (or be tter 2)

pote ntial pa rticipa nts, to b e included a t

the last mo me nt, for those p ote ntially

giving forfait at the la st mo me nt (10%

forfait - also fo r ac tual, unvoluntary

rea sons - seem s to b e a n a verage ).

Keep at lea st 1 po tential

pa rticipa nt on stand -by.

Define the final list of participants.

Phase 2.

Organisationa l aim.

Participant s must b e a ble

to exp ress business

exchange potentialities,

during ea ch 4-5 da y visit.

Advice 9: Given for granted that travel

expenses from one C ountry to ano therwill be p art of the p roject, do n't forget to

make c lear to the p articipa nts how you

are going to dea l with them rega rding in-

co untry expenses. And remem be r that

(right or wrong it ma y be ) the invited

pa rticipa nts ma y expect from the

organiser Country pa rtner a high level of

servic e, not fa r from tha t which t hey

would expec t from a travel ag ency...

Send an e-ma il explaining ho w

the business-visit c osts will bemana ged . Write and send a ve ry

deta iled p lanning for each

Country Partner g roup .

Get an e-mail ba ck from ea ch

single participa nt, co nfirming tha tthey have seen the p rogramm e.


22/26

Sec tion 7 : B2T as a g ood p rac tice (IiI)

Phase and sub-



featuresAd vic e 10: Cla rify the b usiness-visit

philosophy a nd the general program me.

This shou ld be d one with b roc hure.

Send a n e-mail abo ut the

business-visit philosop hy a nd

program me . The ho st c ountry

should p repare a a light

brochure.

Get an e-mail ba ck from ea ch

single pa rticipa nt.

Pha se 3.

Tac tica l Attitude: Pre-pa ring, promo ting,

stimulating e xcha nge of knowledge and

experienc es during the b usiness visit

planned time betwe en experience d

operators (e.g. over 45-year-old

professionals, experts, entrepreneurs).

Pha se 3.

Tac tica l need s:

Prepare business-visit programme

in details (acc ording to local

situations) a nd organise c o-

ordinated on-line information, in

order to assure effec tive b i-lateral

meetings.

Phase 3.

Actual actions:

- Define t he visit program me

- Comp lete pa rticipa nts CV

Dossier per single Visiting Country

Partne r, by Hosting C oun try

Partner

Advic e 11: Get written p revious

informa tion, at least two w eeks be fore

eve ry business visit, with deta iled profiles,

on e very single p articip ant, if possible

following t he a dvised Europea n CV

forma t. This will be designed to g ive

ad vanc e informa tion to everybod yab out everybod y; and to allow the

Hosting Partner to prep are a nd p ut

together on time for each single Business

visit the general list (CV Dossier) for

bilateral me etings.

Collecte d C V profiles, to ma ke

the CV Dossier.

- All Count ries CV profiles to be

put to ge ther by the Host Count ry

Partner.

Advic e 12: Get a p icture of every

pa rticipa nt to be a dd ed to the CV. It

helps to rememb er them even a fter a

long time.

Collect C V pictures, to be

includ ed in the CV Dossier

- Collect p ictures, in the C V

Ad vice 13: For the Host Pa rtner: prepare

the list o f a ll Partne r Count ries

participants.

Be firm in asking for all Partner

Co untries CV p artic ipa nts list on

time, i. e. two wee ks be fore the

business visit start.

- Collecte d all Partner Countries

CV p articipa nts list tw o wee ks

before the start of the business

visit.

Ad vice 14: Put o n line the CV Dossier

online o n time, with a bo oking form, so

that everyone can choo se the peo ple

s/ he w an ts to m ee t in the b usiness visit

bilateral meetings, and send the CV

Dossier and the b ooking form to all the

Country Pa rtners.

Be p unc tual in send ing the CVDossier and the bilateral

mee tings bo oking form to a ll

pa rticipa nts, at lea st 10 days

before the start of every business

visit. The a im be ing to a llow them

to select the peo ple they would

like to meet during the visit.

- Sent the CV Dossier andbilateral meeting booking form to

all pa rticipa nts 10 days befo re

the start of the business visit.

Ad vice 15: For eve ry Partne r Count ry:

remind single participa nts tha t they must

send the b ilate ral form a t least one w eek

be fore the sta rt of t he b usiness visit, and

get the b ilateral meeting bo oking forms

from the reg istered pa rticipa nts.

Get the booking form for bilateral

mee tings from the p articipants at

least 3 d ays before the start o f

ev ery b usiness visit.

All the bilateral forms to b e

co llec ted , 3 da ys be fore the start

of each business visit.

Phase 3.

Tac tica l Ob jective:

Facilitating exchange of

acquaintances and

knowledge during the

business visit, in o rde r to

facilitate business

development

exchanges.

Advic e 16: prepa re for the bilateralmee tings, keep ing som e room for flexible

ad ap tat ions. Ask the pa rticipa nts to

prepare presentation a nd promotional

mate rial about the a ctivities and projec ts

to b e supp lied during the bi-late ral

meeting.

Based on the planned business

visit prog ramm e, mat ch thebilateral m eeting requests.

Focused software is available for

this purpose.

Plan individual lists of bilateral

meetings.


23/26

Sec tion 7 : B2T as a g ood p rac tice (IV)

Phase and sub-



featuresPractical attitude: remove as many

interpersonal and formal barriers as

possible.

Practic al need s: Maintain an

informa l ap proac h, from the first

mo me nt. The o rgan isers ge t in

touch with potential participants.

Ac tual ac tions: Planned informa l

approch to be a dopted.

Advic e 17: Organise a simple b ut rigorous

and de tailed individual self presenta tion

be twe en b y every single Country Group

pa rticipa nts, be fore a rriving in the host

country (e. g. while travelling, while

wa iting in the airport).

Plan informal individual

presentations.

Arrange an informal single

Partner Country group

presentation.

Ad vice 18: Try to sta rt since the first o fficia l

mee ting with nformal ap proa ch. Try to

plan trans-national mixed g roup s at lunch

and dinner.

Plan info rmal d ress (e. g . no tie)

and informa l individual

presentations.

Arrang e informal presenta tion by

each participant.

Phase 4.

Practical aim: to create

the best atmosphere for

comm unica tion andknowledge exchange

atm osphe re, during the

visit.

Practical objective:

Fac ilitate the setting of

long-lasting po tential

business relat ionships

between the

participants.

Advic e 19: Enco urage the p articipat ion

of single mem be rs to p articipat e in at

lea st two business visits a t least, sinc e

experience has shown that the first

mee ting helps the pa rticipa nts to g et to

know ea c h othe r, but it is during the

sec ond m eeting tha t they, very quickly

start to think of co mm on projects to be

run tog ether.

Check which participants are

going to attend the me eting for

the first time, a nd which o nes for

a sec ond time.

List p articipants att end ing for the

first time a nd/ or for the sec ond

time.

Op erational at titude: orga nising

effec tive and a pp ea ling 4-5 da y business

visits.

Operational needs: rational

business planning to be co rrectly

mana ged (a non-cha rac teristic

activity, not to be described

here).

Ac tual ac tions: (non-

cha ract eristic) rationally

organised ac tivity.

Programm e c ontent: the programme

should aim a t exchang e o f innovation,

and should focus on a specific issue (e.g.

: innova tion in log istics; qua lity in the

tourism sec tor; New ap proa che s to

raising ent reprene urship; innova tion in

governing business transfer processesetc ...). Informa l oc c asions like d inner

and travel time, should a lso b e used (not

exclusively) for bila teral mee tings.

The visit issue to be c lea rly

described.

Clearly described business visit

issue

Ad vice 20: The business visit p rogram me

should include the fo llowing m ain items:

a. Projec t presenta tion; b. technic al

business sub jec ts; c . b i-la tera l me eting s;

tourism a c tivity; d . business visit

evaluation.

Time a nd oc ca sions for bilateral

mee tings to b e p reviously and

clea rly described . If need ed ,

flexible add useful variations.

Sugg ested ma in po ints should be

included in the p rogramm e.

Phase 5.

Ope rational aim:

Orga nising suc c essful

business visits, from t he

following po ints of view:

Business usefulness

Advic e 21: projec t p resenta tion should

include country Partners presentations

and single participants presentations.

Experienc e with d ifferent formulas has

proved that, d espite the ap pa rent wa ste

of time, it is a g ood practice to p lanthings so tha t eve ry single pa rticipa nt c an

introd uce himself to the whole g roup (2-3

minute s pe r person).

Check whether the project and

the individua l presenta tions

have b een included in the

program me in the sugg ested

way. Plan enough room and time

for general and individualpresentations.

Sugg ested p rojec t and individual

presentations times to be

included in the p rogramm e.


24/26

Sec tion 7 : B2T as a g ood p rac tice (V)

Phase and sub-



featuresInnovation Exchang e Advic e 22. tec hnical business subjec ts

ma y co nsist of v isits to loc al innova tive

and advanced technological local

applications or seminars, conferences,

de mo nstrations (why not ta king profit

from other events in the host region, run

both by external peop le or by some of

the g roup m em be rs, or - the be st - a

mixture of these).

In the host c ountry area, look for

top ics that sound really

advanced to be included in the

program me . Take ca re: plan

seminars in the mo rning, not afte r

lunchtime, b ec ause this would

not help

participantsconcentration.

Advanced and innovative topics

to be included in the

programme.

Tourism sat isfac tion Ad vice 24: tou rism ac tivity has prov ed to

be very effective in order to p romote a

very good athmo sphere for mutual

excha nge of e xperienc es. It may co nsist

of v isiting a rtistics or natural p lac es or

knowing loc al g astronom ic fe atures. But

the most successful has been allowing

people coming from other countries to

experience very spe c ific things: e. g. t he

Finnish sauna , the Greek sea side, the

Spa nish ho use-like p laying with yo ung

bulls...

Think of spe c ific loc al a c tivities,

with fan tasy.

Planned typical tourism activities.

Spe cific e xperienc e

evaluation

Ad vice 25: the business visit should be

eva luated in two wa ys, or on two

oc c asions. The first shou ld b e linked with

the e valuation of ho w succ essful the

organisation of the business-visit was.

Prepare an in-depth visit

eva luation form. Plan a t lea st

one hour for visit evaluation

discussion. In this phase include

both an evaluation of the

business visit itself, a nd a future

pe rspe c tive eva luation. The a im

be ing to unde rsta nd business

development opportunities in the

future.

Disc uss and finally co llect the

business visit evaluation forms,

bo th from a short and a mid-term

perspective.

Pro-ac tive eva luation Advic e 26: the sec ond , and the mo st

importan t, should be do ne aft er at lea st

four or six months, aiming at checking

whet her som e p rojec ts have started from

the mee tings and the new

acq uaintances were p romoted a what

kind of p rojec ts have a ct ually go t started .

Prep are a stric t ev aluation fo rm,

to be submitted b y the

participants six months after the

end of t he business visit. Chec k if

any business development came

from the m eetings, and what

kind of business.

Collect informa tion abo ut new

ac tual or potential projec ts

coming from the business visits.


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B2T

P r o m o t e r

P a r t n e r s

W I t h t h e f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t o f

b2t final handbook

Documents