The Hellenic Open University and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the joint promotion of scientific and administrative cooperation between the two institutions.
In the context of the implementation of the Memorandum, special emphasis will be placed on the cooperation of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the largest hotel franchising company in the world, with the Postgraduate Programme of Studies “Tourism Business Administration” of the Hellenic Open University.
Indicatively, the scope of the cooperation includes:
-The development of broader scientific and research partnerships.
-The joint organisation of scientific and other activities (e.g. workshops, events, etc.).
-The implementation of educational and research actions and innovative initiatives.
-The transfer of know-how between the two institutions.
-The contribution of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to the submission of proposals for fields directly related to the labour market and the needs of the tourism market, which may lead to the introduction of new subject areas and subjects in the relevant curricula of the School of Social Sciences of the Hellenic Open University.
-The organization of communication and information activities on the working conditions and professional opportunities for graduates of the School of Social Sciences of the Hellenic Open University.
The Associate Dean of the School of Social Sciences of the Hellenic Open University and Director of the Postgraduate Programme of Studies “Tourism Business Administration (TBA)” Dr. Dimitris Stergios said, “It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I welcome the new collaboration with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. I am confident that the joint actions that have been agreed with our new partner are fully in line with our common goal of providing value to our students, the tourism labour market and society at large. The strengthening of relations between the academic community and the tourism business community, which this Memorandum of Understanding supports, is an important step in this direction.”
For his part, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ Regional Director for Southern and Eastern Europe, Mr. Vassilis Themelidis said: “Having set high goals in the hospitality industry on a global level, we are particularly pleased with the cooperation we have started with the Hellenic Open University to implement joint actions on an educational and research level and to highlight the potential of the industry as an excellent career option for students. The academic community with its scientific knowledge can offer a lot to the hotel industry. Similarly, the hospitality sector, by recording and communicating to targeted academic channels the needs of the market, can lead to the introduction of new subject areas in the curricula”.
The Hellenic Open University
The Hellenic Open University is the only public university in the country that has been offering for almost 30 years now exclusively Distance Education, without any time and space constraints. Established in the Greek society, with more than 50,000 graduates and 45,000 active students in every corner of the country and beyond, the Open University is today one of the largest universities in Greece, in terms of active students and teaching staff. Recently ranked among the top 5 Distance Learning Universities in the World, it offers 8 Undergraduate Degree Programmes and more than 60 Postgraduate Degree Programmes in specialized subjects in Greek and beyond, while its mission is to promote Scientific Research, as well as the development of Technology and Methodology in the field of knowledge transfer at a distance.
The Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is the world’s largest hotel franchisor, with approximately 9,200 hotels with a capacity of 872,000 rooms in more than 95 countries on 6 continents. The company manages a portfolio of 25 hotel brands, including Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Dolce, Tryp, Vienna House, Registry Collection, Trademark Collection® and Wyndham®. The award-winning Wyndham Rewards® loyalty program offers more than 106 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, resorts, vacation clubs and vacation homes worldwide.
