During the second day of the 14th Congress of Croatian Camping, organized by Croatian Camping Union (KUH), Josipa Cvelić Bonifačić introduced the first European Master Study in sustainable camping management: Campmaster. Bonifačić – Phd, Assistant Professor at the University of Rijeka Faculty of tourism and Hospitality Management – is the leader of the project CampMaster – Development of European Curriculum in the Field of Sustainable Camping Resort Management. It is a project funded by the Erasmus+ programme, under the 2020 call for Strategic Partnerships – K203.
Recognizing the need of the fast-growing camping industry for quality trained staff with specific knowledge and skills, 3 European universities, in partnership with national camping associations, have launched an initiative to align the needs of the camping industry with skills and qualifications acquired in specialized study programmes at the European level. The university are: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management (Lead partner, Croatia), Breda University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), Universitat de Girona (Spain). Project partners are the Associació de Càmpings de Girona (Spain), The Leading Camping & Caravanning Parks of Europe e.V. (Germany), Croatian Camping Association.
In addition to universities and employers, students from the 3 partner universities will be involved in the development of the new curriculum. Project activities include defining learning outcomes for the future study programme, elaboration of module content and development of a digital on-line platform where case studies in the field of camping resort management will be published. The main goal of the project is to develop the first European curriculum in the field of sustainable management of a camping resort – CampMaster.
“The programme is addressed to persons with a bachelor, who now would like to qualify for managerial functions at camping resorts”, wrote the partner The Leading Camping & Caravanning Parks of Europe. “Studies take place in English and one semester has to be completed in each of the three universities involved. I.e. the students get to know three important European camping countries with their different emphasises during their courses. The fourth semester is an internship and takes place at a LeadingCampings. Here, the students write their thesis on a practice-orientated topic. How the name of the programme indicates, particular attention will be paid to sustainable management. Statutory purpose of the association ‘The Leading Camping and Caravaning Parks of Europe e.V.’ is to improve the public reputation of camping. However, it is a matter of heart for us, to support the academisation of the executive teams“.
The project has a duration of 24 months.
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