MUNICIPALITIES: 134 PRACTICES
The Region of Crete is a Local Self-Administration Organization of second level and consists of 4 Regional Units : Heraklion , Lasithi , Rethymno and Chania. ROC designs and implements policies on economic, social, tourist and cultural development of the island .
Read more: www.crete.gov.gr
Overall, the employees of the tourism sector, i.e.:
but also, all citizens of the Region of Crete who are associated with the above tourism sectors.
The (5) Training cycles, were implemented as follows: 09-12.06, 16-19.06, 23-26.06, 30.06-03.07 and 07.07-10.07.2020. However, the preparation period from April 2020 was also important when the planning of the seminar began.
Despite the good epidemiological results of the first wave of CoViD-19, the Region of Crete, realized the need for a “Mega Project” for the proper preparation of all tourism stakeholders. Contributing to this planning was the fact that more than 50% of potential visitors stated that their decision to travel in 2020 would rely heavily on the National and Regional Policy, as well as on the safety measures at the destination in general.
Thus, within the framework of its integrated strategy for the support of tourism, this particular year, the Region of Crete has collaborated with all stakeholders, with the aim of educating entrepreneurs and employees and mitigating the effects of the CoViD-19 pandemic.
With this in mind, and in collaboration with the Medical School of the University of Crete, it has implemented a pioneering educational program, a Mega Project which has covered the needs of thousands of employees in the tourism industry.
programma-perifereia-panepistimio-pel-5i-evdomada-b-1-1.pdf (crete.gov.gr)
The training has been implemented via an online platform including a combination of online training (4 teaching days and 10 hours of online attendance) and of asynchronous training - access to the educational material that was posted and is still available online on the Website of the Region of Crete, with the objective of its continuous review https://www.crete.gov.gr/covid19/
The program was implemented in (5) cycles. Event Dates:
09-12.06, 16-19.06, 23-26.06, 30.06-03.07 and 07.07-10.07.2020.
The trainees had registered for their participation exclusively online, via the website of the Region of Crete, with no submission of any documents whatsoever, only using their personal VAT number or the VAT number of their organization. Subsequently, they were informed about the date and time of the seminar of the cycle in which they would participate through a relevant participation code sent to their email. Apart from a browser, no other software was required for someone to attend the training program.
Training Certification: Upon completion of the training, each trainee was examined via the platform with the use of the exclusive code (examination based on multiple choice questions), in order to receive a certificate of attendance from the Centre for Training and Lifelong Learning of the University of Crete. The certification was attained if the trainee had attended at least 80% of the time of the presentations (the system recorded the participation hours of the trainees), if the trainee had answered correctly at least 50% of the 30 questions included in the examination, 20 horizontal questions from the database and another 10 by random selection from the database concerning the specialization stated by the trainee during registration. In addition to all the above innovations, the platform also had the ability to produce the certificate, both in Greek and English, according to the personal data of the trainee.
Cycle 1 09-12.06.2020
Registered 3,506
Attended 3,234
2,975 were examined
Success rate 2,910 97.80%
Total Users 17,418
Site Views 228,308
Cycle 2 16-19.06.2020
Registered 12,984
11,620 people attended
10,971 were examined
Success rate 10,812 98.60%
Total Users 33,531
Site Views 587,166
Cycle 3 23-26.06.2020
Registered 11,754
Attended 10,243
9,679 were examined
Success rate 9,566 98.80%
Total Users 31,236
Site Views 495,614
Cycle 4 30.06-03.07.2020
Registered 8,398
7,132 attended
6,153 were examined
Success rate 6,084 98.90%
Total Users 30,332
Site Views 340,750
Cycle 5 07.07-10.07.2020
Registered 7,819
5,898 attended
4,437 were examined
Success rate 4,399 99.10%
Total Users 17.105
Site Views 247,990
Overall Results
Registered 44,461
Attended 38,127
34,215 were examined
Success rate 33,771 98.70%
Total Users 129,622
Site Views 1,899,828
Google Analytics, available in our respective .ppt presentation.
The action has been implemented in the Region of Crete, wherever there was Internet connection available. At this point, it is important to mention that the Region of Peloponnese has implemented the exact same action with the University of Crete and its Medical School, while the Region of the Ionian Islands has also shown interest for the initiative.
All the Tourism Organizations of Crete collaborated in such a project: the (7) Associations of Hoteliers of Crete, the Association of Tourist & Travel Agencies of Crete, all the Associations of Accommodation of Crete, the Association of Guides of Crete & Santorini, all Catering Business Associations, all the Associations of Tourist Busses, the Regional Busses of Crete, the Associations of SPA and Wellness Centres, the Taxi Associations, the (3) Airports of Crete but also, on the part of the employees, the Associations of Hotel Employees, the Associations of Employees in Catering, the Associations of Confectioners, Cooks and the Associations of Hotel Managers of Crete, athletes, cultural workers, and the Labour Centres of the (4) Regional Units of Crete.
On the other hand, the co-operation with the University of Crete, the participation of its Medical School and the Centre for Training and Lifelong Learning of the University of Crete, as well as the participation of doctors from the National Public Health Organization (NPHO) and the University have lent prestige and excellence to the program.
In such a Mega Project, the Region of Crete has participated with all 4 Directorates for Public Health of its four Regional Units. Two of the Directors have taught at the seminar: the Director for Social Welfare (Culture & Sports) and the General Director. Moreover, Presidents from Tourist Offices, Tourist Busses and Wellness Centres Association, the Airport Manager of Heraklion, and the Commissioner for Tourism Sector & e-Governance of the Region of Crete, have all voluntarily participated as Instructors!
The above action has been considered as a Global Good Practice, has been welcomed by all the tourist markets, and it has also been characterized as a "Game Changing" action. Especially in the markets where the visitors’ point of view has been shaped according to the level of health protection offered by the destination, this training brought about a positive impact on the views of many tourists who chose Crete as their holiday destination and, subsequently, it conveyed the positive message of professional observance of Health Protocols within the Region of Crete. Although the only percentage we know is that over 65% stated that their holidays will depend on the safety of the destination, we believe that the very good epidemiological course of Crete during the 2nd wave of the Pandemic is (also) due to this training which, helped develop collective consciousness. The results of the confirmed cases of patients that contracted the Covid-19 virus in the Region of Crete in December 2020 are indicative to this end.
01.12.2020 Confirmed Cases (National Public Health Organization / NPHO) 50
08.12.2020 Confirmed Cases (National Public Health Organization / NPHO) 22
16.12.2020 Confirmed Cases (National Public Health Organization / NPHO) 13
14.12.2020 Confirmed Cases (National Public Health Organization / NPHO) 3
That has been the greatest achievement of our training.
