Rethinking Tourism Education in Georgia
Rethinking Tourism Education in Georgia

Summary/Abstract: Tourism is the second largest industry in the world and one of the fastest growing economic sectors in Georgia. Successful development of tourism in the country is largely depended on the quality of education, skills and competences of the people involved in the process of building the sector. The purpose of the research is to investigate the compliance of tourism education programs with the practical needs of the tourism sector challenges in Georgia that will reveal where we are at present and what resources we have for further development. The research showed that the tourism curriculums not always reflect the needs of the industry in case of Georgia. The paper attempts to show the complexity of tourism phenomenon and the challenges tourism education faces to meet the need of the industry. Therefore, the state and universities need to rethink the way they provide academic education in tourism. While making efforts to stay academic, knowledge transferability and applicability need to be considered when designing the curriculums. Fitting education to the practical needs of the tourism industry will enable the state and university to respond to the need of the country’s economic development, on the one hand; and, on the other hand, such a policy will increase chances to justify the expectation of students to get higher education, which is being competitive on the labor market.

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