Portugal Tourism, in association with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, has announced the launch of the Tourism International Academy.

An ambitious tourism training project aimed at developing human capital in the sector in a sustainable and comprehensive manner, it will be based in Estoril.

The €24 million education facility will be born form the merger between campuses of the Portuguese Tourism School and the Estoril Higher School of Hospitality & Tourism.

The action plan, which was signed by the secretary general of the UNWTO, will see the TIA become part of the International School of Tourism within the academy of the UNWTO, with development expected to be completed by 2023.

The campus will incorporate modern facilities and equipment to cover all areas of training, from professional technical education to executive programs.

This includes a training centre for the UNWTO, a business incubator, the Macao Institute of Tourism and a student accommodation residency building which will have enough rooms to house 150 students.

Luís Araújo, president of Portugal Tourism, said: “The strategic location of the campus and the commitment to training will address major challenges in the sector, promoting Portugal as a destination for students and positioning our country as an international hub for the development of new projects in tourism.

“We believe that this is the right moment for the Tourism International Academy project to begin.”

The aim of the new project is to create opportunities for the training of people from all over the world, which will be geared towards promoting Portugal as a destination for students and to position the country as an international hub for the development of new tourism projects.

It will also be open to tourism companies that wish to help promote Portugal as a destination for students whilst positioning the country as an international hub for the development of new tourism projects.

Speaking about the launch of the Tourism International Academy, Ana Mendes Godinho, secretary of state for tourism, Portugal, said: “This project is fundamental to recognise human resources in tourism and claim Portugal as the reference country for this and tourism training.

“We will have key partners in the UNWTO and the Macao Institute of Tourism Training, which will help in building bridges for people from all over the world.

“On the other hand, the project is also open to tourism companies that want to participate by bringing the response training closer to the needs of the search.”

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Portugal was last year recognised as the World’s Leading Destination by voters at the World Travel Awards.