**Author details**

listed in this article (see Section **3.3**) were deduced from this analysis, theories of spatial

To verify/falsify and thereby clarify the suggested profiles of future managers in the areas of logistics and tourism in the future Fehmarn-Belt Fixed Link region, deeper analysis is required. For instance, job advertisements for companies in the area could be analyzed to survey required competences quantitatively. Managers of companies in the region could be interviewed qualitatively about their view as experts who already conduct business in the area before the fixed link is build. What are their expectations, concerns, and ideas for future development of their company regarding the change caused by the fixed link? Coming from

This present research has examined which portfolios of spatial- and content-related courses

Reasonable further steps for universities interested in creating a cross-border study program could be the formation of the network to foster cross-border collaboration and share and refine the portfolio of modules together. An exchange of modules with other universities in the specialization areas of tourism, knowledge management, and logistics could be made possible, precisely by digitizing the modules. A resulting challenge for higher educational institutions will be finding the right higher education partner for cooperation and coproduction of

As the potential network of universities needs to address international target groups and prospective international students, their joined forces approach of cross-border cooperation might have positive effects on marketing and offers like this. Therefore, it is an example for cross-border cooperation itself. Another target group is the employers in the area. They need to be informed about the new educational offers and the advantages digitalized learning formats have for intercultural training and education in the economic area of the Fehmarn-Belt

Overall, this current research has provided some ideas on which portfolios of spatial- and content-related courses and modules are necessary for shaping future competences in the area. The suggestions are based on theoretical approaches to spatial development, trends in digitization, and an industry structure analysis (Porter's Five Forces) for two economic sectors largely affected by the fixed link across the Baltic Sea. In creating a cross-border online study program, sharing modules, and refining them together, universities might be able to build up the competences now that future managers in the area will need when the Fehmarn-Belt

3 To start a course offer based on the ideas discussed above in a pragmatic, hands-on way of doing, in a first step, modules from the specializations Nordic Management, Tourism, and Logistics from the West Coast University of Applied Sciences in Heide, Germany, for instance, could be made available for an international target group. They could be shared, translated, and refined together as online courses with other universities in the context of this emerging economic area

this analytic point of view, this article offers opportunities for further investigation.

and modules are necessary for shaping these future competences in the area.

intercultural and mutually creditable modules and curricula.3

development, and trends in digitization.

218 Mobilities, Tourism and Travel Behavior - Contexts and Boundaries

**4.2. Recommendations for action**

Fixed Link.

Fixed Link opens up.

of the planned Fehmarn-Belt Fixed Link.

Lars Rettig\* and Morten Friedrichsen

\*Address all correspondence to: rettig@fh-westkueste.de

West Coast University of Applied Sciences, Heide, Germany
