An Academic Overvıew On The Quality Of Tourısm Education In Turkey

Abstract

Similar to various branches of industry, tourism industry is defined as an important element contributing to the economic prosperity of destinations and countries, and has been marked as one of the fastest-growing sectors especially since the second half of the 20th century (Albeni-Olgun 2005:94). Along with the appetite for achieving a certain level of prosperity, the increase in investments made in the industry and the proliferation of touristic destinations have also gained recognition as significant factors complicating the competition environment in tourism industry; and such a competitive environment dictates the need for ensuring customer satisfaction and promoting the intention of revisits. Serving physically complex products with its staff in constant communication with their guests, tourism industry is in need for well-trained professionals. The lack of well-trained tourism personnel stands out as a major issue for Turkey. This study aims to shed light on the development, the quality and the drawbacks of tourism education in Turkey. It also involves certain implications as to the possible reformative actions to be taken in order to compensate for the need of qualified tourism personnel. To this end, the structures of institutions offering tourism education have been analyzed; and the importance of enabling the trainees to put the required professional knowledge into practice, rather than reinforcing them merely with theoretical information, was emphasized. Touching on the historical development of tourism education in Turkey, this research also focuses on the value of effective communicational skills of the personnel, which can be improved through tourism education. Additionally, it aims to underline the general and specific problems of the tourism education provided formally or in-service. Even though the ability to be ranked among the preferred touristic destinations depends on the presence of trained tourism personnel, it also has a direct connection with the quality of the training being provided to them. In this context, existing scientific data should be utilized while specifying the educational strategies, as well as adopting a progressive mindset that welcomes improvement. The objective should be to attain professionals who have experience in their area of specialization and who can deal with possible issues proactively, rather than struggling to generating individuals who have expertise in all fields.