Having noted the three step process stated in the toolkit and through discussions during the partnership-building process, stakeholders have arrived at the following objectives:

To establish a list of interested stakeholders
To establish a working group
To develop a preliminary website
To prepare a funding application
To set up a Tourism Learning Area for the region

1.6 Provisional Learning Area East Riding (UK)

The process of setting up the East Riding of Yorkshire Tourism Learning Area wasinitiated through meetings and telephone interviews with various parties who werelikely to be of central interest to the TLA, including the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Yorkshire Forward (the Regional Development Agency), Leader+, the Tourism Society (a private sector association representing the industry) and the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Hull. A relevant Sector Skills Agency, People 1st, was only set up nationally during the course of the project and has not yet established a strong regional presence, but is expected to do so soon. Additional meetings and telephone interviews were conducted with other agencies and individuals able to give further background information or with an interest in the project, including marketing consultants, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, individuals working for other tourism, development and rural regeneration schemes such as the Market Towns Initiative, and owners of accommodation and attractions in the target area.

At the same time, an overview of the East Riding of Yorkshire in terms of its demographic, geographical, agricultural and industrial characteristics was researched, and an inventory of tourism provision in the county was carried out. Tourism market research relating to the target area was also assessed. Based on this information, a gap analysis of current and potential tourism provision was made. It was clear that while considerable inputs had been devoted to regenerating tourism in coastal parts of the East Riding, tourism in the inland areas had received less attention and, as a result, was failing to fulfil its potential.

It was therefore concluded that the most appropriate way forward for the East Yorkshire TLA would be to focus on creating an improved network for rural tourism. The TLA is intended to provide better links and development structures for elements of the tourism product such as accommodation, food providers, attractions, and activities. There is good support from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the principal agency concerned with the delivery of tourism services in the East Riding, and from the Yorkshire Tourist Board.

Once developed, the East Yorkshire TLA will provide strong linkages between different elements of a significant tourism product, covering providers of accommodation, food, attractions and activities, and including capacity-building and promotional resources. Where practicable, links with wider European networks will also be included.

A proposed mission statement is: "The East Yorkshire Rural Tourism Learning Area seeks to improve the capacity of rural tourism in the East Riding of Yorkshire in order to deliver benefits both to providers and users of tourism."

1.7 Historical Background to this initiative

Over the past few years the European Commission has gathered a lot of valuable information from all over Europe on how to improve the performance of the tourism and education sectors. Within the Commission, DG Enterprise's Tourism Unit is implementing a project that will bring together the broad processes of education and tourism using a systematic concept called a Learning Area. The idea is being applied to the tourism sector, so that the quantitative and qualitative development of stakeholder performance can be achieved by well-informed and motivated people, working together within coherent and effective educational and sectoral governance processes.

To achieve this, seven provisional learning areas are being established in different countries to see how the system will work in reality. The East Riding of Yorkshire is one of these areas.

The move to implement the concept of Learning Areas for the Tourism Sector stems from the Human Potential debate, in which the p rocess of learning is seen as the key to improving our individual and collective performance, especially at work, but also with regard to social and environmental issues. DG Education and Culture developed the idea through CEDEFOP as Learning Regions or Learning Communities , which are now being disseminated through the R3L (Regional Life Long Learning) Initiative.

In 2001, the Commission Communication Working together for the future of European tourism focused part of its attention on how t o improve training in order to upgrade skills in the tourism industry, where issues of attracting, retaining and developing skilled labour to the sector, and supporting micro-enterprises at regional and local level to improve competitiveness were both seen as causing difficulties for tourism sector stability and growth throughout Europe.