A silent change is going through European tourism. Nothing to do with new destinations or passenger fashions. This time, the revolution starts from the skills: the Sustainability Manager for Tourism Destinationsa new hybrid professional figure, designed to transform the way we travel and manage tourist destinations. It is a structured project that speaks the language of environmental regenerationcollective well -being and social responsibility.
The first training course will start in 2025 thanks to Wenatouran initiative supported by the European Union through the Erasmus+ program and developed by an international network led by Etifor, spin-off of the University of Padua. The goal? Train professionals who are able to guide the destinations towards a sustainable transitionresilient and inclusive, going from a “consuming” tourism to one “cure”.
A new way of thinking (and doing) tourism
The route is divided into four stages, accessible for free online on Wenatour.eu. From theoretical training to the experience on the field, with modules that range between environmental certifications, digitization, green care tourism and corporate welfare, the course intends to develop skills capable of summarizing trend analysis, construction of public-private networks and evaluation of the impact.
The 20 most deserving students they will live a practical immersion in two certified European destinations: Valsugana Lagorai (Italy) and Nassfeld Lesachtal Weissensee (Austria), advanced models of regenerative tourism. Following, professional courses in Ireland and Austria will complete training.
But who really is the Sustainability Manager for Tourism Destinations? It is a bridge between local and global, a facilitator involving the communities, coordinates investors, measures the results and anticipates the crises. In short, the professional who was missing for make tourism a lasting wellness enginenot only economic but also environmental and social.
Why do you need (now) this figure?
The idea was born from an obvious observation: tourism can no longer afford to be only “numbers”. As he pointed out in a note Diego Gallodirector of the Etifor Tourism Program, “arrivals and overnight stays are no longer enough to tell the health of a destination. It serves an integrated approach that takes into account damage, impacts, but also of the opportunities for regeneration”.
To push in this direction are not only European policies, such as the Green DealtheAgenda 2030 or the Transition Pathway for Tourismbut also the new behaviors of travelers. According to a search for ethifor, 80% of tourists consider traveling in a sustainable waybut often he doesn’t know how to really do it. The desire for authenticity, well -being and positive impact clashes with the confusion generated by unmidice offers or Greenwashing phenomena.
In the meantime, strong trends emerge like the bleisure (the Union of Business and Leisure), digital nomadism, proximity tourism and integration of the journey into corporate welfare programs. All signs of an evolution system that asks for new skills to be guided with awareness.
A key role for territories and communities
This professional figure, if well trained, will become the pivot of an international network capable of sharing good practices and build replicable models. No longer only “green” managers, but practical visionaries, capable of integrating data, relationships, strategies and measurable impacts. The Sustainability Manager for Tourism Destinations does not arrive, therefore, to replace, but to unite: environment, economy, culture, community and innovation. An alliance between territories and people, between tourists and residents, between individual desires and collective needs.
