A Summer School entitled “Tourism, Culture and Heritage” is organized by the Department of Business Administration and Tourism of the Hellenic Mediterranean University in Heraklion, from 4 to 11 July 2025. The summer school, in which 22 students from Ningbo University, China, participate, is implemented within the framework of the internationalization cooperation of the two universities. HMU’s collaboration with the university and the city of Ningbo began two years ago, and to date, representatives of the Asian city have visited the University many times, while the Summer School “Tourism, Culture and Heritage” brings students from China to HMU for the first time, with the aim of introducing them to Greek Culture, Cretan Tradition, as well as educating them on issues related to the development of experiential tourism experiences.
The program of the visit to Greece consists of two parts: an educational trip to Athens and Delphi, from June 30 to July 3, and the Summer School in Crete, from July 4 to 11. In Crete, the program includes an official reception of the Chinese students by representatives of the Rector’s Council on Friday, July 4, a lecture on the culture and history of Crete and an organized tour of the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion and Knossos. This will be followed by a weekly program with thematic speeches and presentations by faculty members of the Department of Management and Tourism on the creative industries and creative tourism in Crete, a presentation of the characteristics of Cretan food and the use of gastronomic tourism in shaping experiences, experiential workshops on issues of promoting wine tourism and gastronomic experiences. Finally, the importance of women’s cooperatives in local development and the contribution of destination branding to the creation of resilient tourist destinations will be highlighted.
