The Tourism Education and the Tourism Industry Imbalances: A Review of Skills, Curriculum Proponents and the Way Forward (Published)
The tourism sector is a complex industry, encompassing a wide range of labour needs from nonqualified to high-qualified personnel. However, it appears that tourism education society has evolved in a heterogeneous and ad hoc manner and does not necessarily meet the tourism industry’s skills-set needs. Tourism education confronts daunting problems in practice and curriculum development that call for innovative approaches and alliances, intended to enhance the graduates’ knowledge and skills. Therefore, this paper aims to ascertain the existence of gaps in tourism curricula development and skills sets required by the tourism industry. The paper findings emphasize stakeholders’ collaboration framework; tourism educators, students, parents, and government(s) to address the mismatch. In addition, the findings point to the importance of vocational and liberal approaches in tourism teachings, using a systematic approach. This study’s ideologies help the tourism curriculum developers, and tourism stakeholders harmonize their persuasions for satisfaction on both ends.
Keywords: Skills, Stakeholders, Tourism Industry, tourism curriculum, tourism education
The tourism education and the tourism industry imbalances: a review of skills, curriculum proponents and the way forward (Published)
The tourism sector is a complex industry, encompassing a wide range of labour needs from nonqualified to high-qualified personnel. However, it appears that tourism education society has evolved in a heterogeneous and ad hoc manner and does not necessarily meet the tourism industry’s skills-set needs. Tourism education confronts daunting problems in practice and curriculum development that call for innovative approaches and alliances, intended to enhance the graduates’ knowledge and skills. Therefore, this paper aims to ascertain the existence of gaps in tourism curricula development and skills sets required by the tourism industry. The paper findings emphasize stakeholders’ collaboration framework; tourism educators, students, parents, and government(s) to address the mismatch. In addition, the findings point to the importance of vocational and liberal approaches in tourism teachings, using a systematic approach. This study’s ideologies help the tourism curriculum developers, and tourism stakeholders harmonize their persuasions for satisfaction on both ends.
Keywords: Skills, Stakeholders, Tourism Industry, tourism curriculum, tourism education
Tourism and hospitality education in Egypt: Is it a necessity to eliminate the recruitment of unqualified employees? (Published)
Tourism and hospitality industry has been recognized as one of the most growing activities over the last decades. The major resource in tourism and hospitality industry is the qualified employee. The success of this industry depends on employees’ performance. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the role of tourism and hospitality education in eliminating the growth of unqualified employees. The research analyze the role of training programs, technical and scientific skills existing in employees working in the tourism and hospitality sector in Egypt. This analysis will identify the role of education in eliminating this phenomenon. A quantitative approach was used by distributing a questionnaire to employees in travel agencies and hotels to explore their opinion on the training, technical and scientific skills offered by universities and their organizations. This paper applied a descriptive analysis using Cronbach’s alpha, mean, standard deviation and t-test. The results show that technical and scientific variables have a significant impact on eliminating the unqualified employees.
Keywords: Recruitment, hospitality education, tourism education, unqualified employees