Tourism Studies Upgrade Next on Greek Gov’t Agenda

Greek Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis and Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni. Photo source: Greek Tourism Ministry

The upgrade of tourism studies and training programs topped the agenda of talks between Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni and Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis in Athens this week.

Pierrakakis announced that a relevant study would be carried out in order to identify the needs and to proceed with the formulation of a plan. The findings, he said, would be discussed with the tourism ministry at a later date.

During the meeting, Kefalogianni underlined the urgent need to modernize tourism education and increase skills uptraining opportunities, which she said were closely connected to the quality of the tourism product and services on offer.

Among others, Kefalogianni said the ministries were examining ways to enrich tourism studies at college-level facilities and vocational training institutes.

She added that it was also a ministry priority to expand tourism education and training options as well as update courses in order to meet emerging demands and market conditions.

Photo source: Greek Tourism Ministry

Pierrakakis pledged to support actions in this direction and to meet again to set out the outline for implementation.

Earlier this year, a SETE Intelligence study found that it was an urgent need to train professionals in tourism in order to be prepared to meet the growing demands of the new era. A key finding revealed that only 24 percent of employees in the Greek hospitality industry have graduated from tourism schools despite the majority working in 4- and 5-star hotels.

Study analysts went on to note that tourism stakeholders should focus on creating educational programs for 49 specialty and skills areas which should be a top priority for the coming period.