The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Tonči Glavina, has made two decisions aimed at promoting careers in tourism and hospitality and motivating young people to pursue education in these professions. The decisions were made on the basis of public calls. They relate to the promotion and strengthening of competences in vocational and artistic professions for tourism and the encouragement of education in hospitality and tourism. EUR 392,460.00 will be allocated for scholarships for 211 new scholarship holders and EUR 229,333.83 for 27 projects of secondary vocational, artistic and mixed schools in tourism in 2025.
Connecting education and economy
“We have been implementing the scholarship program since 2008, and the career promotion program since 2009. In this way, we enable better connections between educational institutions and economic entities in tourism, but we also strengthen the competencies of students of secondary vocational and art schools and develop awareness of career development opportunities in tourism. Through these two activities, we provide young people with concrete support during their education. And a clear perspective of employment after graduation. It is precisely high-quality and motivated people who are the foundation of competitive and sustainable tourism,“ emphasized the Minister of Tourism and Sports Tonči Glavina.
He added that almost 3,000 scholarship recipients have so far gone through the scholarship program. It has been co-financed with more than 6.7 million euros. More than 1.2 million euros have been allocated for the career promotion program for 312 projects.
As a reminder, the Scholarship Program is implemented in cooperation with legal and natural persons registered to perform hospitality activities. This includes hotels, camps, restaurants, bars, catering facilities, hostels and travel agencies. During their education, scholarship recipients complete professional internships, and upon completion of their education, they are employed by an employer.
For scholarships of more than 620 thousand euros
For the 2025/2026 school year, interest has been expressed for a total of 211 new scholarship recipients. Based on the adopted Decision, tripartite agreements will be signed with 42 employers from the hospitality and tourism sector. On a monthly basis, 39,246.00 euros will be allocated from the state budget for scholarships, which amounts to 392,460.00 euros for the school year.
When we talk about the Program for the Promotion and Strengthening of Competences of Secondary Vocational and Artistic Occupations for Tourism, funds are allocated for projects aimed at primary school students (active/passive inclusion), projects submitted by at least two partner schools from different educational sectors, and projects that include associated partners from the public, private and/or civil sectors, and contribute to motivating young people to work in tourism, raising awareness among students and teachers about tourism as a multi-sector sector, connecting educational institutions and the private sector, developing teamwork and project thinking among students, developing an entrepreneurial spirit among students, and thinking among young people about solving the most important challenges of Croatian tourism.
