Five TecnoCampus students will compete in the finals of Grupo Hotusa's Talent Match contest

The Hotusa Group is a leading company in the Spanish hotel market and a world benchmark in the tourism sector. With more than 240 hotels in 17 countries in Europe and America, Hotusa has established itself as a benchmark company in the world of hotels and tourism.

Founded in Barcelona in 1977 by Amancio López Seijas, Hotusa stands out for its ability to adapt to market trends and changes, as well as its commitment to innovation and excellence in customer service. One of the most interesting projects that it has carried out in recent years is the Talent Match, a platform that seeks to connect young talents with companies in the tourism sector to offer them job opportunities.

The contest is open to students from all over Spain who have a passion for tourism and hospitality and who want to demonstrate their innovative skills. Participants can present proposals in teams of up to five people, in line with the themes and challenges posed by the Hotusa Group.

In this latest edition of the contest, a group of five last-year students of the TecnoCampus Double Degree in Tourism and Business Administration have been selected as finalists.

The group, made up of Emma Comas Vidal, Jordi Pérez Esclarin, Andrea Reche Pérez, Maria Salvaña Grajera and Enric Tafalla Izuel, has proposed a new product line to the Hotusa Group that will allow the company to capture a growing segment of the market with great potential: professional digital nomads.

“We have a great interest in the tourism sector, but especially to know what the accommodation subsector is like through challenges that bring us closer to its reality,” explains Emma Comas Vidal. “As well as, the fact of knowing techniques by which to make a more sustainable activity in the entire tourism value chain,” she adds.

The challenge to face consisted of creating a new product that would adapt to the current scenario of the hotel sector, developing sustainable, digital, profitable and innovative solutions that would contribute to the post-covid recovery of the tourism industry.

The challenge posed covered four perspectives: sustainable tourism, destination experiences, health and wellness tourism and new business trends.

“Once the category we wanted to focus on was chosen, we had to prepare a presentation and video explaining the current situation of the sector, identifying new habits of interest groups and finally developing our proposal”, comments Jordi Pérez Esclarin. “The final proposal that we presented to the Grupo Hotusa jury was the integration of a new product line that will allow the company to capture a growing segment of the market with great potential, such as professional digital nomads, who are people who telework from anywhere in the world while traveling,” he says.

“So far, we have developed a product that connects with the problems of the target audience, having empathized and validated the idea with them, making use of the Design Thinking methodology, which is a tool that we have been taught during the degree and that consists of in placing the user in the main axis”, affirms Andrea Reche Pérez.

“We are proud to be able to represent our university in the national final of the contest”, comments Maria Salvaña Grajera. “Furthermore, the fact of seeing that the effort made for months has paid off, makes us feel very satisfied with the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired during our university years, since they have been of great help to us”, she explains.

“On the other hand, the fact of attending the final will allow us the luxury of being in contact with professionals who will give us advice to promote our project; as well as being in contact with other students who have motivations similar to ours, which can be an enriching experience for our professional career”, concludes Enric Tafalla Izuel.

The objective of the double degree in Business Administration and Tourism is to train experts in the tourism sector with extensive knowledge in administration and business management, versatile and with a complete command of technology. The coordinator of the degree, Judith Turrión, emphasizes that students must be able to innovate in strategy and operations from a sustainable perspective, since the future of tourism depends on sustainability, digital transformation and innovation.

“Participating in the Talent Match has been very enriching for the students because it has allowed them to put into practice the knowledge obtained by solving a real and complex challenge”, comments Turrión. “In general, these events help them develop their entrepreneurial and innovative skills, strengthen the company-university link and learn about the main trends in the tourism sector,” he says.

“During the degree, students take different subjects that allow them to acquire knowledge related to sustainable and innovative tourism management,” says Turrión. “Therefore, thanks to this fit between the skills acquired throughout the degree and the bases of the challenge, the finalist team has been able to put the knowledge acquired into practice,” he adds.

Finally, Turrión highlights the pride he feels for the quality of the project carried out by the students and for the motivation, commitment and involvement that they have maintained at all times. He wishes them the best of luck in the final and encourages them to continue with their goals.