International Erasmus+ SmartTourismAcademy project

  • Dana Chlupová
  • 18.02.2026
The Department of Tourism and Recreational Activities at the Faculty of Business Administration in Karviná has become an official partner of the international Erasmus+ project 2025-1-SK01-KA220-HED-000362455 SmartTourismAcademy: Preparing the Next Generation of Tourism Experts.

Author: Krystyna Heinz, Martina Chylková

The aim of the project is to modernize higher education in the field of green and regenerative tourism and to strengthen sustainable approaches in practice. The project connects the academic environment with innovative methodological approaches and strives to ensure that future tourism professionals acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to address current environmental and social challenges.

The second international project meeting took place on February 2–3, 2026, at Turiba University in Riga, Latvia. Partners discussed detailed terms of cooperation, defined key project activities, and shared examples of good practice in educating future tourism professionals. The program also included a lecture by Ieva Briksle focused on creating sustainable business ideas for start-up entrepreneurs. Significant attention was also paid to the financial management of the project, the preparation of the main project outputs, and, above all, the structure and content of the individual project modules.

The Czech team was represented by Krystyna Heinz and Martina Chylková from the Department of Tourism and Recreational Activities. In addition to the work program, participants also took part in accompanying activities, such as a visit to one of the highest-rated Green Key-certified hotels in Riga – Hotel Tribe. The hotel is housed in an Art Nouveau building and adheres to strict international environmental standards with a focus on energy and water conservation, waste management, employee training, and sustainable purchasing. The next project meeting will take place in September 2026 in Lecce, Italy, where partners will present the progress made in implementing project activities.