Tourism Talks
Tourism Talks: A dynamic series on training, funding, and shaping the future of tourism
The Tourism Talks initiative, on behalf of the Large-Scale Partnership (LSP) aims to facilitate quick knowledge sharing and networking among tourism industry experts.
Short talks on tourism industry themes such as skills intelligence, funding opportunities, education and training will be included at each Tourism Talks session organised by EVBB, RuralTour, AKMI, ITH and Federturismo Confindustria in the framework of the Pacts4all project.
Webinar 19 June 2025 (11:00 – 12:30)
The Future of Work in Tourism – Adapting to the Digital Age and Disruptive Innovations of AI
PacTS4ALL is pleased to announce the upcoming session in our Tourism Talks series — a timely and forward-thinking conversation on how the tourism industry is evolving in response to technological change.
As the digital age accelerates and artificial intelligence continues to shape the global economy, this session will explore:
🔹 The Evolving Landscape – How digital tools and AI are transforming tourism roles and responsibilities
🔹 Skills for the Future – What workers and leaders need to succeed in a tech-driven environment
🔹 Disruption & Innovation – How new technologies are creating both opportunities and challenges
🔹 Adapting Strategies – Best practices for training, reskilling, and workforce development
🔹 Inclusive Growth – Ensuring the benefits of innovation are accessible to all stakeholders
This is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable insights, share perspectives, and better prepare for the future of work in tourism.
Agenda
19 June 2025
The times given are those of the Central European Time Zone (CET)
11:00 – 11:20
Moderator
- Valeria Fantozzi | Training, studies and research Federturismo Confindustria
Keynote speaker
- Edo Colombo | President of Turismi.ai
11:20 – 12:20
- Ms. Susana Garrido, MBA | Digitality & General Education Program Manager Senior Lecturer in Marketing
- Manuel Au-Yong Oliveira | Lecturer Researcher Universidade de Aveiro
- Elisa Piras | CAS (Center for Advanced Studies) Eurac Senior Researcher
- Alexandros Sainidis | Knowledge Manager AKMI
12:20 – 12:30
- Q&A Session, wrap-up and closing
Speakers
Moderator
Valeria Fantozzi
Training, studies and research Federturismo Confindustria
Valeria Fantozzi in Federturismo Confindustria has been involved in managing European funded projects since 2001, dealing with a portfolio of international, multi-partnership projects,linked above all to vocational training and development policies, enterprise creation & development, cultural/natural heritage enhancement. She has been involved in many activities and responsibilities as to manage research, analyses and debates about tourism supply and demand, to promote training opportunities in accordance with the Ministry of Education, several training centres and representative secondary schools to identify skills mismatch along the tourism value chain and identify new skills related to new businesses and organisations.
Keynote Speaker
Edoardo Colombo
President of Turismi.ai
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Innovation expert specialized in the digital transformation of tourism for public administration and for businesses. President of Turismi.ai the italian Association for Artificial Intelligence in Tourism dedicated to the promotion of innovation in the tourism sector through the use of artificial intelligence, which has organized Gatewai the first national conference on artificial intelligence in tourism. He is part of the experts of the European Capital of Smart Tourism and has been a scientific technical expert for tourism of the Intelligent City Challenge. He collaborates with ITA Academy Turismo Veneto, Anci Association of City of Motors, is a director of Trentino Holidays the Tour Operator of UNAT the Hotelier Union of Trentino. He is a contract teaching holder for the Digital for Sustainability course at the IULM – Department of Business, Law, Economics and Consumption “Carlo A. Ricciardi” He is advisor of some national tourism events such as BTO in Florence, BTM in Bari.
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Speakers
Ms. Susana Garrido, MBA
Digitality & General Education Program Manager Senior Lecturer in Marketing
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Susana Garrido is the Program Manager in charge of Digitality, General Education courses, Intraining and Faculty Development. She has taught and continues to teach different courses within the Marketing Pathway. Susana Garrido has an MBA by the San Telmo International Institute in Malaga, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Translation and Interpretation by the University of Malaga. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Business and a Masters in Golf and Country Club Management. She has been teaching in Les Roches Marbella since 2012 and before that she developed her career in hospitality industry both in the US and in Spain. Her last role before joining Les Roches was as the Hotel Manager and Spa Manager at a 5-star Golf Resort Property in Southern Spain. Susana Garrido is fluent in English and Spanish.
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Manuel Luìs Au-Yong Oliveira
Lecturer Researcher Universidade de Aveiro
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Manuel Luís Au-Yong Oliveira was born in London. Manuel has two daughters and two step-children and currently resides in Porto, Portugal. Manuel did his post-doctoral studies at the University of Aveiro (2016-2019) with the title “Elements that contribute to organisational competitiveness” – with a special focus on tourism. Manuel has a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management, from FEUP (University of Porto, 2012; distinction awarded to the thesis), an MBA from Cardiff (Cardiff University is a prestigious, research-focused, Russell Group University in the UK) (distinction awarded to the dissertation) (equivalence given to a Master’s in Management by Universidade Católica Portuguesa, in Lisbon), and an undergraduate degree in Management Information Processing, from Universidade Portucalense (1991).
Manuel is an Associate Professor with Habilitation (in Management – Marketing – April 2022) at the University of Aveiro (DEGEIT) where he has lectured at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels on marketing, innovation, strategy and research methods.
Manuel is currently a researcher affiliated to GOVCOPP (full researcher) and INESC TEC (collaborator) and is the coordinator or principal investigator for four ongoing Erasmus+ projects at the University of Aveiro – including TourX, which aims for a more sustainable and forward-looking tourism effort by the 23 international partners and their stakeholders.
Manuel has won numerous awards including an honourable mention in the University of Aveiro Researcher Awards 2022 – for the area of Social Sciences.
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Elisa Piras
CAS (Center for Advanced Studies) Eurac Senior Researcher
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Elisa Piras is Senior Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies of Eurac Research in Bolzano/Bozen (Italy). Having a background in international relations and political philosophy, she earned a PhD in Politics, Human Rights, and Sustainability from Sant’Anna School for Advanced Studies. She held research and teaching positions at the University of Bologna and at Sant’Anna School in Pisa, where she served as Didactic Coordinator of the Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management from 2019 to 2022. During her academic career, she undertook research stays abroad at the London School of Economics and at Goethe Universität in Frankfurt. Her current research focuses on human rights and social inclusion in the tourism sector, issues of social justice within and beyond states’ borders, inclusive socio-ecological transformation, public opinion and disinformation. She has contributed to various academic projects and publications, including co-editing books and writing articles on topics like epistemic injustices, disinformation, and gender-based violence.
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Alexandros Sainidis
Knowledge Manager AKMI
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Alexandros Sainidis holds a degree in International Studies and is a Knowledge Manager at the International Department of AKMI. He is responsible for managing organizational knowledge and data, as well as the coordination of educational material and instructional design. Among other projects, he is in the project teams of AI4VET4AI CoVE on Artificial Intelligence, focusing on education and industrial applications of AI, as well as TourX CoVE for Tourism. He firmly believes that knowledge management is the key for the strategic use of AI in traditional sectors. He is the founder of Pecunia et Bellum, a blog on international affairs and economics, and is the Lead Educational Program Designer of Mercury Negotiation Academy, a youth initiative with the mission of promoting negotiation skills in the Greek and European ecosystems. He has trained educators, SMEs, professionals of various occupations and is an intercultural education expert in global settings, including Sub-Saharan Africa.
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