Project ComPass successfully launched with the first experience exchange in Burg (Spreewald)

During the first day, the study visit to the "Spreewald Thermenhotel" was under the theme of qualification and further education in particular by management personnel in the fields of sales, IT, customer orientation, quality management and foreign language skills. Hotel manager Mr. Völlger discussed the hotel's philosophy and spoke to the participants.

In the "Hotel am See" (Seehotel), the various areas of the hotel in connection with the subject of health tourism were presented by the marketing manager, Mrs. Westphal. The participants were particularly impressed of the wooden blockhouses, which contribute to a relaxing wellness and health holiday by their construction and interior furnishing.

The visit of the "Kneipp- und Erlebniscamping an der Spreewaldfließen" and the subsequent discussion with the owners and operators, Mrs. Pfeiffer and Mr. Ragotzky, on the subject of qualification and further education as well as a reflection of the company visits and discussions concluded a very interesting day.

The second day explored service quality and hospitality oriented strategies, regulations and strategies as well as access and accommodations for disabled peoples. The "NaturApartments Stauensfließ" are run by Elke and Joachim Lang. The couple is one of the so-called "cross-border workers in tourism" and employs two unskilled workers. They nevertheless showed success in a tour of the facility and answered many questions about their success recipe in the following talks.

In the Spreewald region traditional handicraft is lived and liked to be shown. This was evident in Mr. Schilka's small "Stein-Senfmanufaktur". Mr. Schilka manufactures his own mustard in an old traditional way and disseminates it by himself.

The third day was very technical, meeting with representatives of the municipal government of Burg im Spreewald, as well as the government of Land Brandenburg, which were also all involved in the promotion and future development and expansion of tourism in the Spreewald.In the subsequent presentation and discussion with the director of the tourism information (Spreewald), Mrs. Schlenger, the link between crafts and tourism was once again taken up and the topic of "Q certification" (quality certification) was presented with a closer look to the topic of disabled tourism.

The participants were able to exchange the practical experiences from the company visits in different workshops and theme rounds on the next day. For example, there was a presentation of DEHOGA Brandenburg by Mr. Lücke and TMB Tourismusmarketing Brandenburg GmbH on "The tourism concept of the state of Brandenburg and its implementation, especially in the field of qualification of seasonal workers, women, and the elderly".

Another topic was: "How can part-time and seasonal workers be further qualified according to their skills and abilities so that they can be employed in the long-term and sustainable in micro and small enterprises?", which was organized by Mrs. Oder and Mr. Krüger from the Employment Agency Cottbus and Mrs. Schielei from the ZAB Zukunftsagentur Brandenburg.

From the final discussions with the project partners and the participating companies, a positive conclusion of the experience exchange can be drawn. All participants went home with many impressions, experiences and new ideas.

The Stakeholders from Latvia were especially impressed by the nature and health themed spa tourism services, as well as the local, traditional, organic foods. They were especially interested in, year-round tourism possibilities, which is an issue for tourism in Saulkrasti. Health and spa tourism proved to be exciting options for year-round tourism, and could be quite attractive if combined with local foods, culture and traditions.

Mr. Normunds Licis, Deputy Chairman of the Saulkrasti City Council about the highlights of the visit (in Latvian):