Public Tourism Training Schools in Greece Accepting Applications

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Greece’s state-run Vocational Training Institutes for Tourism (IEK) will be accepting applications starting August 22 for the 2022-2023 academic year, the Greek Tourism Ministry announced recently.

More specifically, 914 eligible applicants will be able to study hospitality unit management, culinary art (technician – chef), pastry-making – baking (baker-pastry technician), and tourism management & economics at the tourism schools (IEKs) in Anavyssos (Attica), Perea (Thessaloniki), Heraklion (Crete), Corfu, Rhodes, Argos, Galaxidi and Alexandroupoli.

This year, Thessaloniki’s IEK will be offering two new areas of study: room management for hospitality executives and tourism studies for travel agencies and tourist business executives.

The ministry hopes the new courses will to create ground for innovation in tourism education. The courses are being supported by the Macedonia-Thrace Travel Agents Association (MTTAA), the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels and the Thessaloniki Convention Bureau (TCB).

Interested candidates must have completed (diploma) general, technical or vocational high school, regardless of age.

Apply here by the deadline September 11, 2022.

Commenting on the new courses, Deputy Tourism Minister Sofia Zacharaki stressed the importance of professional training and how it contributes to the quality of the overall tourist experience.

Zacharaki said the modernization of public tourism education was based on the real needs of the labor market and aimed at providing students with the necessary resources that will give them access to more opportunities and better jobs .

“We are expanding the curriculum with two new experimental courses focusing on educational and professional innovation. We have revised IEK operating regulations and have accelerated registration procedures for new students. We’ve modernized internship programs for tourism ministry school students and as of this year we are subsidizing housing for IEK students,” said Zacharaki, who is responsible for tourism education.

Lastly, she referred to the creation of the first tourism academy, an important part tourism education reforms.

“Upgrading tourism education on offer in Greece means further upgrading and strengthening the competitiveness of the tourism product itself,” she said.

More info on courses and requirements here.