Practice-Trips: Efficiency and Quality Perceptions of Prospective Tour Guides

Abstract

There are higher education programs offering tourist guide programs across Turkey, ranging from associate's degree to undergraduate degree. One of the final prerequisites by the government for those at higher schools is that students are to complete a 40-day Turkey trip to be a licensed tourist guide. Given this, this study set out to shed light on how effectively and efficient ly these practice-trips are handled, and whether the participants are content with the trip with respect to the destinations visited, the competence of guide, and other physical attributes such as the quality of lodging and transport facilities. The results suggest that the quality perceptions of the undergraduate students are higher in terms of the dimensions used in the study.