Background of the project: The Vocational School for Hotel and Tourism Management in Grafenau trains pupils in the fields hotel, tourism, travelling and event management. These branches are very international, on the one hand because of the tourists who come to our country and region, who stay in hotels, who go sightseeing and who take part in events and trips. On the other hand, locals want to travel to destinations like Spain which are very attractive for tourists, they stay in hotels there, go sightseeing and go to events with another cultural background. Due to the topics of the curriculum the trainees have to deal with different cultures and institutions. Therefore, it is self-evident that the trainees want to take the chance to do their obligatory internship of their training abroad in order to get acquainted to the most popular destinations of German tourists. Targets of the project: The main goal of the project is to give the trainees of the Vocational School for Hotel and Tourism Management the possibility to gain experiences abroad in the different fields of the training. These experiences should contribute to the aim to raise the level of the local training and to integrate positive impressions into the daily routine of the companies of the hotel, gastronomy, tourism and travelling branches. The participants shall gain experiences in foreign countries and they shall improve their knowledge and skills. These experiences can contribute to support the individual development of the trainees and to show them their professional possibilities abroad in Europe. Number and profile of the participants: 64 pupils of all three class levels of the Vocational Schools for Hotel and Tourism Management in Grafenau and Bad Wörishofen should get the opportunity to take part in this project and to gain different experiences. Description of the activities: Level 1: Participation in a language course, duration two weeks, accomplishing tasks in hotels, tourism offices, travelling agencies etc. as well as cultural trips Level 2: internship in a chosen branch - Hotels: writing of the duty roster, scheduling the staff, description of duties and activities, etc. Participating in the branches e.g. reception and service the pupils should get insight into the structure of processes and they should evaluate these processes. However, the pupils should do a strengths and weaknesses analysis in their internship report. Moreover, the students should suggest improvements in order to avoid these mistakes concerning future responsibilities of their own. - Travelling: Participating in preparing, planning and realizing (accompanying) of little trips to the sights of the region, calculating of the estimated prices which the tourists will have to pay for these trips - Event: Participating in preparing, planning and realizing events for tourists, writing a feedback - Tourism: Writing a questionnaire to improve the quality of the local performances of tourism, realizing surveys with these questionnaires, evaluating these questionnaires, writing of proposals for improvements and their realization Therefore, the tasks mentioned above correspond to the tasks for the internship which are part of the training plans. Hence, the tasks of the training can be accomplished abroad and thus the specialized subject content as well as the language and cultural skills can be trained. Method to realize the project: The current project is connected to former realized projects in Leonardo da Vinci. The teaching contents build upon previous experiences and should be a lasting benefit for both parties. Because of the close corporation with Transculture an enduring partnership will be established. The individual mobility will be prepared together, the requested learning results will be defined in learning contracts with the teachers and they will be evaluated continuously together with the project management and the school leadership. Sustainability in the organization- , staff- and education development can be made sure (-> quality management). Target results, effects and benefits The skills of the pupils will be promoted and improved and the school can shape itself constantly, too. Due to the contacts with foreign partners a network comes into existence and all involved partners can profit. Sharing the new gained competences with the other trainees the complete school and the companies of the region can profit because the training can be raised on a higher level. Due to the international contact the process of the Europeanizing of the school can be promoted and supported.