Competence Approach to the Training of Tourism Specialists to Operate in a State of Crisis

Abstract

Tourism as one of the promising branches of economy demands competent, active and highly qualified specialists who are capable of professional self-determination generating and implementing their own plans in the relevant market conditions as well as in the state of crisis. The training of future tourism specialists is associated with the need to form professional and personal competence, which involves the development of theoretical knowledge and practical skills, a vision of their professional behaviour in various situations of interpersonal interaction. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the essence of a competent approach in preparing tourism specialists to work in crisis conditions. The tasks of this work were to study scientific views on the issue of training tourism specialists to work in crisis conditions, to determine the main requirements for specialists in the tourism sector. To solve the problems of research, a set of methods was used: theoretical analysis and synthesis of ideas, results, theoretical statements disclosed in the scientific and pedagogical literature; summarizing and systematizing the results of existing studies on this issue. At the stage of development of the socio-cultural sphere, the tourism business needs personnel who are ready to organize activities in the conditions of crisis camps. Stakeholders and applicants seeking to expand the range of competitive opportunities in acquiring knowledge and skills are interested in implementing an educational program for training tourism specialists who are able to work in new socio-cultural conditions. The article generalizes views of scientists with respect to the interpretation of “competence approach” notion. Basic information on future tourism specialists training (taking into consideration all the directions of strategic development and global changes in the tourism market) is presented. The training issues are connected with the key problems of improving the tourism development management system, ensuring the competitiveness of tourism products and service in the implementation of national projects. It is determined that the main methodological requirement to future tourism specialists’ professional training is the updating of forms and content of practical components. Some of the methods of the educational process intensification that guarantee the effectiveness of theoretical and practical training are disclosed. Based on a thorough analysis of researches on this problem, a comprehensive definition of future tourism specialists’ professional training was defined, taking into account their readiness to operate in crisis situations. Professional competence in the context of the study is defined as an integrative quality, property, or dynamic state of a future specialist that ensures physical, psychological, professional, and personal compliance with needs, qualification standards, and requirements for work in the state of crisis. The set of competences such as general scientific, professionally qualified, social, individual and instrumental competence are relevant components of the professional competence of a tourism specialist, who is ready to operate in state of crisis. The introduction of academic discipline “Principles of anti-crisis management in tourism industry” that is aimed at the development and improvement of professional and personal tourism specialists’ qualities that are necessary to be effective in crisis situations was proposed.