Berlin, 26 May 2023

TUI Care Foundation launches e-Academy – Digital inclusion for youth in tourism destinations through free online tourism and sustainability classes

  • e-Academy offers training for anyone interested in starting a career in tourism or hospitality and for tourism professionals who want to extend their skills
  • Free learning content and self-paced online learning courses with a special focus on career building and sustainable tourism practices
  • e-Academy is powered by atingi in partnership with German Development Agency GIZ and developed in partnership with eLearning experts from  common sense
  • The online platform is part of the TUI Academy programme, which offers disadvantaged young people access high quality education, work experience and life skills coaching

Many rural communities across Latin America pass on traditional ways of The TUI Care Foundation is launching a new e-Academy that upskills and reskills learners and promotes employment development in tourism destinations worldwide. The digital learning platform offers free learning content in the form of self-paced learning courses with two focus areas: Career building and sustainable tourism.

Access to education is essential to improving life chances. With the TUI Care Foundation’s free e-Academy, people from all backgrounds can access high-quality education in tourism. Thanks to its fully digital approach, the e-Academy provides learning opportunities to everyone around the world, from young self-starters to established tourism professionals. The courses are self-paced and provide learners with the flexibility needed to complete the courses at their own pace.

The e-Academy consists of two elements: The Career Academy and the Sustainability Academy. The Career Academy is aimed at anyone who would like to start a career in tourism or hospitality. An extensive set of courses helps learners explore the different career paths in tourism and hospitality, understand the basics of the industry and get first-hand insights into required skills. The Sustainability Academy targets tourism professionals who want to increase their knowledge of sustainable tourism practices. This set of courses takes the learner through best practices in environmental management and social governance and demonstrates how to champion sustainability for a positive impact.

Online learning is delivered by professionals from across the tourism industry, ensuring that learners receive training content that lives up to the practical requirements of the industry. Combining a storytelling approach, the use of interactive elements with case studies, and testimonies from people working in industry, the e-Academy aims to convey high-quality learning in an appealing and entertaining way. Upon completion of any course, every learner will be awarded a badge, endorsed by major brands in the tourism industry and recognising their newly acquired skills.

Jan-Gerrit Groeneveld, Project lead atingi at German Development Agency GIZ: ‘’We are proud to work in partnership with the TUI Care Foundation and provide digital education opportunities in the tourism industry. GIZ’s goal with the digital learning platform atingi is to provide inclusive, accessible, relevant, safe, and secure digital learning for all, and it's encouraging to see organisations leveraging our solution and working together with us to achieve this. With a focus on partner countries in the Global South, the impact of this initiative is particularly significant in promoting equitable access to education and enhancing opportunities for learners in these regions.’’

Andreas Hörfurter, Managing Director, common sense: "Tourism destinations provide a wide range of opportunities for professional development. So, there's a real potential for learning to contribute to the improvement of professional careers and sustainable development. That's why we're proud to have partnered with the TUI Care Foundation to develop the e-Academy platform and create a wide range of online courses for the travel and tourism industry together. Our learner-centered design approach, combined with the TUI’s expertise and commitment to excellence, has resulted in a platform that is not only user-friendly and accessible, but also offers learners the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their careers."

The e-Academy is part of the TUI Care Foundation’s TUI Academy programme, which offers training for disadvantaged young people to access high quality education, work experience, life skills coaching and a brighter future.

The platform can be accessed here: www.tui-eacademy.com


About TUI Care Foundation

Building on the potential of tourism as a force for good, the TUI Care Foundation supports and initiates partnerships and projects, which create new opportunities for the young generation and contribute to thriving communities all over the world. Connecting holidaymakers to good causes, the TUI Care Foundation fosters education and training initiatives to open up new opportunities and perspectives for young people, the protection of the natural environment in holiday destinations and sustainable livelihoods in thriving destinations where local communities can benefit even more from tourism. TUI Care Foundation works global and acts local – it builds on strong partnerships with local and international organisations to create meaningful and long lasting impact. The charitable foundation values transparency and the efficient use of funds. Therefore 100% of the donations go to destination programmes with all administration costs of the foundation covered by TUI. TUI Care Foundation was founded by TUI, the world’s leading tourism business, and is based in the Netherlands.

About atingi

atingi is the digital learning platform launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and was implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in 2019. It harnesses the potential of digital technology and offers free learning opportunities worldwide that comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Users are able to access quality online courses at any time, which helps them improve their employment opportunities. atingi was developed by a team of digital experts and works closely with Smart Africa, the digital initiative launched by the African Union, and with several other partners from the private sector, politics, academia and civil society. www.atingi.org

About common sense

common sense - eLearning & training consultants GmbH, based in Vienna, Austria, is an independent consulting company supporting organizations in more than 50 countries worldwide in their mission to enable learning.          
common sense develops and delivers online courses for and on behalf of internationally active organizations and companies on several continents, supports the (in-house) development of eLearning content through training and capacity building, and assists organizations in developing digital learning strategies. With a focus on learner-centered design and co-creation with their clients, they create learning content and scenarios tailored to their clients' target audiences. This covers a wide range of topics, from tourism to peacekeeping, health to business development and more, as well as a wide range of audiences, from professionals to marginalized groups. Accessibility and accommodating diverse needs are integral to their consulting and design activities. They have an experience of more than 400 projects in over 50 countries since 1999. www.common-sense.at