Education and Professional Training in Tourism and Hospitality: The Case of Portuguese Travel Agents

Abstract

AbstractThis study focuses on tourism education and training in Portugal and how it has been combined with market trends and cycles. Using the case study method, different tools were used including content analysis and open data collection methods were applied by means of questionnaires. The analysis focuses on the educational offer of the subject of Tourism at higher education level in Portugal. The diversity of the identified courses has led to the conclusion that institutions at a university level should reorganize their educational offer to meet market demands. Within this scope, our study focuses on the educational and professional training reality for the tourism sector with special emphasis on curricular units related to tourism distribution. We have put together a list of all the higher education courses in tourism in Portugal which offer curricular units related to travel agencies and tour operators. At the same time, a questionnaire was administered to a broad sample to characterize the exclusive professional training of travel agents. Our aim was that of assessing a significant number of active travel agents in order to identify their academic profile while at the same time analyzing the distribution of tourism-related components within the curricular plans of the courses. Finally, through an analysis of feelings, the intention of the study was to look into the training needs required to reach optimal performance at work.KeywordsTourism distributionEducation in tourismProfessional trainingTravel agencies