GenT | Tourism Generation - a meeting space for Future Tourism Professionals

On 21 May 2025, GenT - Tourism Generation will take place, an afternoon designed to reflect on the future of tourism and the skills needed to face it. An opportunity for students, teachers and professionals in the sector to exchange ideas.

We spoke with Stefano Scagnolari, Head of the Tourism Observatory (O-Tur) at the Institute for Economic Research (IRE) and lecturer on the Master's in International Tourism (USI).

Stefano Scagnolari, let's start with the heart of the event. What does GenT represent for you?

"GenT is a collaborative initiative focused on exploring various aspects of the future of tourism. It is promoted by the Tourism Observatory (O-Tur) in partnership with the Master's program in International Tourism (USI), the Bachelor's program in Leisure Management (SUPSI), and the Higher Specialised School for Hospitality and Tourism (SSSAT) in Bellinzona. These three distinct educational programs represent different levels of training for future professionals in tourism and event organisation in Ticino. The goal is to leverage this diverse training landscape to create a shared space where students and industry professionals can exchange ideas, inspire one another, and collectively reflect on the necessary strategies to address the challenges of an ever-evolving sector."

Why did you choose to focus on "skills for the tourism of the future" for this first edition?

"Because it seemed like the right place to start. We are currently experiencing profound changes in tourism: shifts in communication models, new environmental awareness, rapid technological advancements, and evolving expectations from both travellers and professionals. In this context, training future workers in the sector cannot rely solely on past methods. We need to collaboratively consider what skills are necessary today to prepare for a more informed, equitable, and innovative future. Additionally, it's important to recognise that the workplace for newcomers to the sector will no longer resemble traditional settings. It will be a hybrid environment, where data and territories, creativity and analysis, human contact and digital tools coexist. Increasingly, people will work on projects in interdisciplinary teams with the need to understand different contexts and make quick decisions. GenT was created with this spirit: to build new answers in dialogue with those who study, teach and work in tourism."

A hackathon will be held during GenT. What kind of approach do you expect to see from students?

"This hackathon will be quite unique, as it will focus not only on solving a technical problem but also on a central theme: skills for the future of tourism. We are encouraging students to think creatively and collaboratively about what they envision future work scenarios to be. I expect to see new ideas, unexpected perspectives, and, above all, strong teamwork. This initiative emphasises that skills are developed through dialogue and collaboration with others and the local community. Thus, the hackathon will serve as a platform to collectively imagine how our work in the tourism sector should evolve."

If you had to choose one word to describe the spirit of GenT, what would it be?

"I would say 'connection'. Connection between people, between generations, between knowledge. Between those who are starting out and those who already have experience. Between what we study and what happens. But also a connection between institutions that, in Ticino, invest every day in the training of tourism and event professionals. GenT wants to give visibility to this complex educational network, which brings together different levels of training with a shared vision: to build paths capable of responding to both the needs of the local area and the international job market, and the desire and ambitions of the younger generations. The hope is that GenT will grow, edition after edition, and become a recognised event, capable of telling not only what is being studied, but also how the tourism of the future is being imagined by those who are preparing it today.

From these connections, if nurtured properly, a more conscious, responsible, and sustainable form of tourism can emerge—one capable of envisioning and realising the future."

More information and programme of the event are available at the following link: https://www.ire.usi.ch/en/gent-tourism-generation