Integration of the Academic and Entrepreneurial Environments to Enhance Development Opportunities for Tourism Enterprises

Abstract

The development of modern forms of interaction between science, education, and tourism business perfects the training of specialists who meet the requirements of the tourism market and support the development of the industry. The difficulty of integrating the academic and business environment to strengthen the development opportunities for tourism enterprises necessitates the search for ways to resolve this problem. The study aims to evaluate the integration of academic and entrepreneurial environments as a mechanism for enhancing the development opportunities for tourism enterprises. To achieve the goal, the study employs the qualitative research method of document analysis, as well as the method of expert survey, followed by statistical processing of the obtained data. The authors conclude that the integration of the academic and entrepreneurial environments in the tourism business has to be performed with due regard to the mutual interests of its participants. Key areas of cooperation are increasing the level of services and staff professionalism, improving the quality of training of young specialists through participation in research of tourism, the development of educational programs and improvement of specialists’ competence, the development of incubators and accelerators, and active participation of students in the development and commercialization of business projects.