The educational program for Alternative Tourism was designed and implemented by the American Farm School’s Strategic Project Management Office in Volos, Ioannina and Thessaloniki. The program offered specialized training, support and guidance to young people who wished to be active in the alternative tourism sector either as entrepreneurs or as executives of tourism companies. In its three years, 300 young men and women were trained and 138 were certified as "Sustainable and Alternative Tourism Consultants of the American Farm School" by the Inter-Chamber Certification Body of Greece “DI.FO.P.”
During their training, with the guidance of the trainers and the cooperation of local authorities, trainees designed and implemented five real life projects, designing and presenting holistic services and alternative tourism products, two professional conferences, two feasibility studies, as well as a research on the effects of the pandemic in the region of Central Macedonia, the results of which were presented in an original guide and in a documentary.
The great success of the program lies in the fact that 34% of the graduates are now professionally engaged in the sector, many of them at the companies where they did their internship, while others created synergies with each other by founding companies. Also, many trainees decided to continue their studies in the field at the graduate level.
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