1. Workshop

Workshop with a panel discussion of about 20 experts from academia (CZ, PL), director of TRJH, head of the Regional Office of Liberec Region and head of Dolnośląskiej Izby Gospodarczej. The topic of the workshop is “Changes in the offer of services in the field of tourism in the Czech-Polish border” and it will be held at the Technical University of Liberec. The audience will consist of students who will take part (online) in the final discussion.

The workshop is the first comprehensive planned joint meeting of project partners. The joint meeting and discussion will lead to a detailed analysis of developments in the services before and after pandemic. The participants of the workshop will be selected to include from: businesses in tourism, state administration supporting tourism and academics from tourism. The result will be an exchange of information and material for compiling a research.

2. Primary research

Primary research, where the aim will be to compare the tourism services before and after the pandemic. The Jizera Mountains region will be divided into 10 parts in the Czech Republic and 10 parts in Poland, each part will be assigned to a three-member group of students who will collect data about accommodation, catering and transport in the assigned area. These data will be statistically processed and published.

Research is a key part of the project and forms the content that will be further processed and published. Both situations in services will be part of one questionnaire for each respondent. The respondents will be providers of accommodation, catering and transport services. The research will be carried out in both territories so that the results can be compared.

3. Excursion

Exchange of mutual excursions between the two universities. Students of the tourism study program from Faculty of Economics of the Technical University of Liberec will go on a full-day excursion to the partner university in Jelenia Góra. Subsequently, students of tourism from Jelenia Góra will go to the university in Liberec. The program will consist of a morning visit to a partner university and an afternoon tour of the city’s cultural monuments.

The mutual excursion will lead to an exchange of experiences in the field of study. As these are two equal groups of students, there will be exchange of experiences of academic staff. At the same time, the excursion will lead to acquaintance with the neighbouring region in the field of culture. Excursions will lead to the elimination of prejudices and knowledge of socio-cultural differences, therefore fulfilling the idea of connecting the V4.

4. Conference

Two-day conference, which will be held in the examined area of the Jizera Mountains. On the first day, there will be lectures by experts in the field for students and student presentations will be prepared. In the evening there will be events prepared by students for their partners. The next day there will be a joint excursion to the Jizera Mountains in the Polish and Czech parts.

The organization of the conference and the subsequent publication of the proceedings, which will be published on the project website, will briefly acquaint the public with the situation in tourism services. The conference includes an excursion around natural monuments in the Jizera Mountains, which will introduce students to the region on both sides of the border.

5. Development strategy for TRJH

Pass on identified research data and statistical evaluations to service companies in the region. The conclusions will be presented on the project website and will be distributed via TRJH and the Department of Tourism of Liberec Region in CZ and via Dolnośląskiej Izba Gospodarczej in Poland. The research report “Development strategy of the Jizera Mountains Tourist Region”.

The researchers find out the data, evaluate it and pass it on to the business services sector. Based on the information, companies can reconsider their strategy, streamline costs and implement functioning procedures.