Mallorca will host the JSF Travel & Tourism School, an international Business School specialised in postgraduate and managerial training (executive education). The school will open its doors in September 2016 with the goal of becoming an international benchmark within the industry, both from an academic perspective and in terms of research and innovation.
The Junípero Serra Foundation, which is behind the project, has announced today the creation of the JSF Travel & Tourism School, making the most of the opportunity and support provided by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) to present the project at the next meeting of the World Summit of the World Travel & Tourism Council, which will be held in Madrid in April 15th and 16th.
According to the foundation, the Business School has the active support of more than 25 large international corporations in Europe, Asia and America, including Hotelbeds Group, Grupo Barceló, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts and Riu Hotels & Resorts, as founding sponsors. The sponsorship of these companies, which operate in sectors such as distribution, accommodation, transport, technology and tourism services, allows the centre to be positioned as one of the best business schools in the world in its sector, where private initiative, through commitment to corporate and social responsibility, has been a determining factor in consolidating the project.
The JSF Travel & Tourism School also has the support of international organisations such as the World Travel & Tourism Council, the World Tourism Organisation and Universia.
According to David Scowsill, President of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the WTTC “applauds and supports every educational measure that brings talent into the tourism industry. For this reason, we are delighted to be here since the beginning and to support the creation of this new international academic challenge, which counts a significant number of international leaders within the tourism sector among its sponsors”. He adds: “We believe that providing the best training and education, delivered by the most reputable professionals in the sector, is key to its development, to drive its growth and improve its competitiveness”.
JSF Travel & Tourism School will, next May, become an affiliate member of the World Tourism Organisation. In this sense, it is expected that the Business School will become an active member of its “knowledge network” (network of organisations committed to promoting talent and research).
With Universia, the leading organization in providing support to the global academic sector, the centre is defining the academic strategy and will develop a broad programme to encourage projects that channel talent towards the tourism industry and that actively generate employment in the areas in which it is working.
The main campus of the JSF Travel & Tourism School will be located in Mallorca, as it is an international tourism benchmark and the main global tourism business cluster. The plan is for a significant part of the activities to take place in Palma de Mallorca, although part of the educational calendar will be scheduled in America and Asia, given that the project has a strong international flavour right from its inception.
In a context in which tourism accounts for 9.8% of the global GDP and the forecast for the next decade is extremely positive, the creation of the JSF Travel & Tourism School aims to bring talent into the tourism industry and to improve its image as an innovative and strong industry in which you can develop an ambitious career that enriches you on a professional level.
“We see a need to transition towards new approaches that incorporate the required academic rigour, where talent is rewarded as a catalyst for top drawer academic proposals, to respond to the leadership requirements of the tourism industry – one of the key generators of wealth and jobs worldwide – and help strengthen the sector and the future of new generations. This is all supported by a large theoretical body as a first-rate international academic reference point”, states Jaime Fluxá, President of the Foundation Junípero Serra.
“With the creation of the JSF Travel & Tourism School, we want to play a fundamental role in education in every area of the tourism industry, in strict accordance with its socio-economic importance, so that tourism as a strategic sector has a more active role and exerts more influence when making social and political decisions”, concludes Fluxá.
The JSF Travel & Tourism School is created with the aim of becoming a leader in the sector through the development of specialist masters, executive development programmes and webinars, that will also benefit from the active cooperation of academic partners such as the prestigious Wharton School, with whom collaboration agreement has already been signed, and a prestigious European business school, with whom a second collaboration agreement is near to be signed. It is also intended that the Universitat de les Illes Balears, together with a prestigious group of international universities, will develop academic activities in close collaboration with the Foundation’s Advisory Board.
The Business School is currently finalising its academic plan, which will be presented in September 2015. In parallel with this, special activities are being developed together with Universia in the areas of attracting talent, facilitating employment and creating social transformation. Through an active programme of events, conferences and seminars, the JSF Travel & Tourism School wants to become one of the most influential meeting points in the industry on a global scale.
