Industry Relations and Curricula Design in Austrian Tourism Master Programs: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Changing circumstances and developments related to tourism consistently lead to new challenges for the higher education system. In order to meet the demands of the tourism industry on both personal and career levels, people need competencies that enable them to cope with the changing circumstances of the business world. Yet, there appears to be a considerable gap between what educational institutions offer as management level tourism education and the needs that are expressed by the tourism industry. The aim of this article is to discuss industrial needs and requirements and their subsequent integration into tourism curricula. Following the trend toward academic/practitioner collaboration, this article sets out to contribute to the ongoing debate about the extent to which competencies are integrated into the development of educational programs and reports on an exploratory study of Austria's universities of applied sciences (UAS) master programs in tourism by means of content analysis.

Quality of the master's program: factors and regulatory framework

“…The system for receiving feedback on the quality of the implementation of educational programs includes regular surveys of students, teachers, and employers. Close communication with employers is an important condition for the quality of training, which is confirmed by many researchers [7].…”

Values-based Internships: Combining TEFI Values, Career Internships, and Community Engagement

“…Several authors address the need to close the gap between industry employers' and higher education's expectations for student competencies by making program learning as relevant to industry objectives as possible (e.g., Ruhanen,2005;Swanger & Gursoy, 2007;Zehrer & Mössenlechner, 2008. While program planning based on industry feedback clearly readies students for job tasks, we have noted little evidence that industry feedback helps programs emphasize to students the importance of balancing the TEFI value sets, that is, so that all value sets are weighted equally when making business decisions.…”

Cuestiones fundamentales de Dirección de Operaciones en la dirección y gestión hotelera

“…Por último, las características del entorno en que se desarrollan las actividades turísticas (entre ellas, globalización de los mercados, la creciente competitividad, la segmentación de la demanda, las nuevas tecnologías, los requisitos de sustentabilidad ambiental y social, etc.) exigen una adaptación continua de los contenidos en la formación del capital humano (Zehrer y Mössenlechner, 2008;Huete, 2007;Zehrer et al, 2006). A pesar de esta reconocida importancia, continúa existiendo un debate abierto sobre muchos aspectos relacionados con las necesidades de formación de los recursos humanos en las organizaciones del sector turístico.…”