The Hospitality Employer Ambassador (HEA) project has been designed to support and train a newly emerging and key figure in hospitality sector VET – the Hospitality Employer Ambassador (HEA) – a company founder, manager, HR or training personnel or industry role model encouraged to engage with BVET practitioners to introduce and support young people entering the sector through initial VET pathways. The role of employers is becoming increasingly important in European VET systems to bring the worlds of work and education closer together to make VET more attractive (Riga conclusions, 2015; New Skills Agenda for Europe), providing young people with up to date and relevant workplace information as well as the initial VET and careers opportunities that are available in this growing sector.

Therefore, the HEA project will:
- provide Europe’s VET educators and intermediaries (trainers, tutors, teachers; information, advice and guidance staff; job counsellors and job brokers; mentors, coaches, work-based learning staff with responsibilities for arranging work experience, job ‘tasters’, traineeships, apprenticeships with employers; and educational access and outreach staff) with new techniques and resources to engage with key employers in the hospitality sector
- design, support and train a newly emerging and key industry figure in European VET – the Hospitality Employer Ambassador (HEA).
- ensure that young people accessing or commencing initial VET benefit from up to date and relevant workplace information and inspiration from employers about the VET and careers opportunities that are available in this growing sector.

The HEA project brings a wide network of stakeholders together to develop, test and validate five innovative and sector-orientated Intellectual Outputs, specifically:
IO1: Pedagogical Concept Study – defining the theoretical and practical basis of the didactics in terms of co-production and employer input
IO2: Hospitality Employer Ambassador – Role specification and occupational competences – setting out the range of scenarios and tasks envisaged by this ‘occupational’ figure, as well as the competences needed by VET practitioners to get the best out of it.
IO3: Curriculum Programme and Learning Materials – a brand new approach to how to develop and support hospitality employers to guide and advocate the growing needs of Europe’s hospitality sector, in a contemporary and relevant way
IO4: Digital Resource Pack and Toolkit – enhancing the above capability through e-learning and digital content
IO5: The Smart Guide to the Hospitality Employer Ambassador: Quality standards, success criteria and service integration for Hospitality VET providers – a ‘how to do it’ guide for integrating the Employer Ambassador into hospitality VET provision.

The provision of effective and new guidance and employer engagement strategies to promote civic, social and economic inclusion in Europe is an integral part of the Europe 2020 vision as well a driver for a range of EU policies concerned with making provision more relevant and attractive to young people. In this respect, the outcomes of HEA project will be a welcomed contribution to one of Europe’s core educational objectives of bringing employers closer to the heart of VET planning.