Tourism Geography Education: Opportunities, Obstacles and the Production of Tourism Geographers

Abstract

Geography departments that offer undergraduate tourism geography programmes or concentrations today face a growing number of obstacles. Changes in employment trends within the industry and increasing competition from other tourism-related departments threaten the survival of many geography tourism programmes. The diversity of tourism programmes and departments in universities today has also increased competition for tourism geographers from non-geography departments. This trend may threaten the future production of tourism geographers. This article examines the opportunities and obstacles facing tourism geography education today. An analysis of specialty interest levels in recreation and tourism among geographers and the results of an email survey to geography departments that offer tourism geography suggest that tourism geography is relatively healthy, although some departments are facing difficult times. The case studies illustrate how some geography departments have benefited from incorporating or appropriating tourism hospitality courses/programmes and how other programmes have suffered from retirement of tourism geographers and academic managerialism at both the departmental and university level. The article also offers two in-depth case studies, which reflect the opportunities and obstacles facing departments that promote and encourage the production of tourism geographers.Les départements de géographie qui offrent des programmes en géographie du tourisme comme sujet principal ou d'appoint doivent faire faceà un nombre croissant d'obstacles. Des changements dans les genres d'emplois dans le tourisme et la compétition croissante par d'autres départements qui offrent des programmes en tourisme menacent la survie de nombreux programmes en géographie du tourisme. La diversité des programmes et des départements qui enseignent le tourisme dans les universités aujourd'hui a aussi accru le recrutement de géographes spécialisés en tourisme par des départements qui n'enseignent pas la géographie. Cette tendance risque de menacer la formation de future géographes spécialisés en tourisme. Cet article examine les opportunités et les obstacles auxquels l'enseignement de la géographie du tourisme doit faire face aujourd'hui. Une analyse du niveau d'intérêt des géographes pour les spécialités de tourisme et délassement ainsi que les résultats d'un questionnaire soumisélectroniquement aux départements de géographie qui enseignent le tourisme, suggèrent que la géographie du tourisme se porte relativement bien même si certains départements ont des difficultés. L'article offre aussi deux cas d'études en profondeur qui indiquent les opportunités et les obstacles auxquels les départements qui soutiennent et encouragent la formation de géographes spécialisés en tourisme devront faire face.Mots-clés: Enseignement de la géographie du tourisme, capitalisme académique, programmes de tourisme Zusammenfassung: Studium der Tourismusgeographie: Gelegenheiten, Hindernisse und die Ausbildung von Tourismus Geographen Geographieinstitute, di...

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