July 24, 2020 – Tourism takes up 20 percent of Croatian's GDP. When it comes to the most popular tourist destinations, Poreč is near the top in Croatia, along with its surroundings, with record numbers of overnight stays each year. Most people work in tourism there or are directly related to it. Therefore, recognizing the importance of tourism, the City of Poreč has decided to educate children from an early age about that very important sector through a project called “Ambassadors of Modern Tourism“.

This is the first project of its kind in Croatia and the aim is to teach children the key elements of tourism and to prepare them for the tourism of the new age. It is essential to encourage investment in human potential from an early age.

Taking back the interest in tourism

As Ajna Temimović from the City of Poreč explains, in 2018 and 2019, Poreč was named the best city to live in Croatia in the category of medium-sized cities. Big investments in education, sports, and youth have contributed to this.

Poreč is also among the top 5 cities in Croatia with a positive rate of natural increase, but what concerns them is the low interest of young people for working in tourism.

“Unfortunately, there is less and less interest in certain tourist courses and fewer number of children are enrolled in our tourist high school than usual. Therefore, we decided to apply and implement a project aimed precisely at our youngest residents,” says Temimović.

Source: the City of Poreč

In some places, whole families work in tourism and children grow up without the right understanding of what the tourism sector is, why is it important for families, and what is the role of each individual. The focus of the “Ambassadors of Modern Tourism” is to change that by integrating children into the tourist lifestyle.

“The primary goal of this project is to educate children about all aspects important for tourism and the destination in which they live to bring tourism closer to them in a positive way and teach them how to contribute to the development of tourism in their city,” says Temimović, adding that the secondary goal is the promotion of tourist profession from the earliest age.

Learning through workshops

The project is led by the City of Poreč and it is financed by the Hrvatska za djecu foundation. Children from the Kindergarten Radost Poreč, the Summer Camp of the City of Poreč and the Society Naša djeca Poreč are attending workshops within the project.

They are learning about what it means to live in a tourist city, who is a tourist, what are tourists' expectations, what are the advantages and disadvantages of a tourist career.

“The interest proved to be greater than expected, and the children approached the workshops with great enthusiasm. Currently, the workshops are held in three groups with children of preschool age and lower classes of primary school,” explains Temimović.

Source: the City of Poreč

“At first it was interesting for them because they never thought and talked about it. It was something new to them, but the kids are in camp, where they learn through playing games and no one controls whether and what they have learned,” says Sniježana Matejčić, head of the Society Naša djeca Poreč, adding that in this workshop, games are fun, but children are also expected to acquire some knowledge.

A primary school teacher, the group leader, says “the children are most looking forward to the sweets at the end”.

The workshop lasts seven to eight days. In the end, young participants will test the acquired knowledge through a quiz and receive a certificate “Ambassador of Modern Tourism”.

A long-term wish is to expand this idea to the national level to raise awareness of the importance of tourism in Croatia's economy.

Source: the City of Poreč