THE ROLE OF ACADEMIA IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
2018
The Master’s Program in Management and Ecological Tourism combines sustainability and tourism in
an educational program, in a high quality education program, with professionals and experts, in a
multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach that allows improving product competitiveness and
increasing cultural, social and environmental sensitivity. In order to determine the role of academia in
sustainable tourism, we asked experts in the area. It should be to unify tourism development with
sustainability, which requires knowledge applied to management. The demand for qualified personnel
grows as this type of tourism increases. There are no educational alternatives to professionalize
sustainable tourism. It is a fact in this field that local graduates do not find an outlet in the labour
market, while companies complain that graduates do not respond to their needs. So, there is a
mismatch between training and the labour market in Sustainable Tourism, which generates a training
need. The areas in which education is needed are management, good practices, administration,
economic resources, marketing and communication. The students are professionals and recent
graduates. Professionals want to apply concepts of sustainability to their work, to expand knowledge
and start new projects or to undertake an ecotourism project. Recent graduates have a sustainable
mentality and lifestyle and want to orient their professional life in this sector and deepen knowledge
about ecotourism. This program is taught online, and often this causes contradictions, so students
were asked regarding the advantages and disadvantages of e-Learning methodology. The advantages
of studying online are self-organization of time, self-taught research, comfort, costs savings, possibility
of studying anywhere, to be able to combine master with work and daily life conciliation. Regarding
disadvantages, some students do not see any, and other say there is no direct contact with teachers
or other students, they don’t live the university environment, the sensation of "loneliness" and
difficulties in understanding.
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