Training experts in tourism

Abstract

The tourism education and training system undergoes intense restructuring which starts with redefining qualifications and developing the possibilities training organisations have to provide relevant training programmes. Qualification redefining was triggered by the need to provide coherent and open training channels allowing for access to those willing to choose a job in tourism. The development of the skills of the future employees presupposes the existence of trainers, who use both relevant information and methods meant to improve the skills and abilities of the trainees. Vocational training is no longer an exclusive concern of the education system and training institutions. Greater emphasis is laid on forming partnerships between the training institution, on the one hand, and employers, communities in general, on the other hand. The training network which involves all the participants in the process of creating relationships that lead to the development of a strategy and long-term decision-making is the form under which these partnerships are achieved. Particularly important is a multidisciplinary approach, which is a prerequisite of vocational training in tourism. Tourism education presupposes the participation of all players and learning from others’ experience (or mutual learning). There already are multiple examples of this type of learning namely schools and universities which develop partnerships in order to identify common solutions. Tourism sustainable development implies equal opportunities for all participants and a new approach to moral values. The author of this paper sets forth several solutions regarding the training of human resources in tourism, on short and medium term so that tourism could exert its beneficial effects in Romania.