The official launch of the regional campus for professions and qualifications in Tourism, Hospitality, and Catering (THR) took place on Friday, November 28, at Parc Valrose in Nice.
This gathering of actors in professional training, research, and the economic world is an innovative concept whose main objectives are to support, through training, the territorial policies of economic and social development and to facilitate the professional insertion of young people.
These campuses for professions and qualifications bring together secondary and higher education institutions, initial or continuous training. They are built around a sector of excellence corresponding to a national or regional economic challenge supported by the community and businesses.
Benefiting from national accreditation, the regional campus for professions and qualifications in Tourism, Hospitality, and Catering (THR) highlights local synergies between professional training, research, and economic actors. The THR campus brings together professional training actors (high schools, apprentice training centers, training organizations, higher education institutions, research laboratories, companies…) around an emblematic economic sector of the territory, the tourism, hospitality, and catering sector.
A grand ceremony for the official launch of the THR campus.
The official launch took place on Friday, November 28, 2014, at Parc Valrose in Nice (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis) as part of the 1st Forum of tourism professions. More than 200 people, professionals from the sector, representatives of institutional partners, local authorities, professional organizations and companies, as well as many students, participated in this day and thematic round tables.
The representatives of the 7 founding members of the THR campus presented the challenges related to this innovative concept: Claire Lovisi, Rector of the Nice Academy, Christine Mirauchaux, Vice-President of the PACA Regional Council, Frédérique Vidal, President of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Emmanuelle Nigrelli, Vice-President of the University of Toulon, Alain Gumiel, President of the CRT Riviera Côte d’Azur, Jean Pierre Ghiribelli, President of the UMIH PACA, Alain Marie, Principal of Paul Augier High School, as well as Franck Sosthe, Director of the Ulysse Institute.
Three themed workshops were then offered to participants on “new professions in hospitality and catering”, “the role of digital technology”, and “tourism development in the high and mid-country” to define the working axes and priorities of action for the new THR campus.
A response to young people’s expectations
The THR campus offers pathways between training levels and different statuses that facilitate the continuity of courses. All levels of degrees in the field are concerned: from CAP to master’s, under school, apprentice, or continuous training trainee status. 28 high schools and apprentice training centers in the Alpes-Maritimes and Var, the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, the University of Toulon, and training operators are involved.
The professions and qualifications campus THR offers students, undergraduates, and apprentices a single information point on qualifying courses from CAP to post-baccalaureate, with:
pathways mixing the three training tracks: initial, apprenticeship, continuous
internship offers and alternation contracts to promote meetings between “young talents” and the professional world
pathways between training to facilitate access to professions
services (access to housing, sports, culture) to facilitate training periods
a strengthened link between orientation and integration actors and the world of education and training
A response to the profession’s expectations
The training offer of the THR campus is adapted to specific regional needs and local employment; the training contents are defined in connection with the evolution of professions, and the diploma and certificate training courses are modularized to facilitate lifelong learning in reduced times. A digital resource area via self-training platforms is planned to encourage learning modes adapted to the territory and work time.
The THR campus is also an entry point to university research laboratories. A partnership is indeed engaged with research laboratories within the framework of the 2014-2017 research contract. Other research avenues will be explored by universities in connection with the CNRS: tourist behavior and new mobility, the attendance of certain places such as coastal paths or beaches, etc.
Partnerships are also engaged with the national competitiveness cluster PASS (perfumes, aromas, scents, flavors) and 2 Regional Innovation and Economic Development clusters (PRIDES): PASS and Provence Côte d’Azur Events dedicated to business tourism in PACA.
The 1st Forum of tourism professions was organized by the THR campus, the PACA region, and the Ulysse Institute of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis. The 7 founding members of the THR campus are the Nice Academy, the Provence Alpes Côte d’azur Regional Council, the Union of Hospitality Trades and Industries (UMIH), the Riviera Côte d’Azur Regional Tourism Committee (CRT), the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS), the University of Toulon and the Paul Augier hospitality and tourism high school, the support establishment of the campus.
