Ministry Moves to the Creation of Tourism Studies Courses

The tourism development ministry has initiated the process for the creation of tourism studies courses in public higher education facilities. Secretary General of Tourism Spyros Efstathopoulos, under the directive of Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos, has initiated the procedure by which these courses would be held at the University of Piraeus.

In its first phase the ministry initiative anticipates the creation of specialized tourism studies courses rather than higher education facilities for tourism studies, since according to the ministry, “In order for a higher education facility to be created we must create enough specialized courses to justify its exclusivity.” According to the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises, “The issue of academic tourism education is one in which little progress has been made.” SETE’s opinion is in line with many members of the tourism sector who feel that in a country whose financial livelihood depends on tourism, there is a substantial lack of necessary training for the tourism industry at a university level.

The association added, “Ideal development would be the creation of a network of three to four schools at the most pivotal tourism destinations nationwide.” SETE recently announced its cooperation with the University of the Aegean within the framework of aiding and developing the university’s research on tourism and substantiating claims made by the association through objective scientific studies.