ShareCheck out the videos and conclusions of the seminar Challenges in University Training according to Tourism Employers
The second webinar in the series co-organised by the quality agencies of Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Castile and Leon, Aragon, the Basque Country and Catalonia, had almost 300 participants. In case you missed it, we've published all the seminar material.
On 2 December we held the webinar entitled The challenges in university training according to employers: the case of university studies in Tourism, which consisted of:
1) A presentation and analysis of the results of tourism degree assessments that highlighted the weaknesses of these degrees and possible improvements, by Sandra Marcos, head of international relations of the Castile and Leon Agency (ACSUCYL).
2) A reflection on the challenges of university training in Tourism in Spain, with Antonio Guevara, dean of the Faculty of Tourism of the University of Málaga and president of the Interuniversity Tourism Network REDINTUR.
3) A presentation of the study carried out by AQU Catalunya on the employers' opinion of university training in Tourism, carried out by Sandra Nieto (head of the Employers project at AQU Catalunya). The main results of the study presented by AQU Catalunya on employers' opinion of university training in Tourism are the following:
- It seems that there may be a mismatch in the supply of places by universities (there is a high proportion of vacancies) and demand by companies (job placement and suitability rates are low).
- The employers identify a lack of problem-solving and language skills among the graduates in Tourism who have been hired.
- Among a set of specific competencies in the field it was found that:
a) Six out of ten companies identify a training deficit in the ability to work in complex, intense and unforeseen situations.
b) Four out of ten highlight a lack of concern for continuous improvement, lack of ability to interpret data, analytical capacity to understand the behaviour of demand in the sector, and knowledge of all aspects of the product/service.
- Despite there being room for improvement, employers are satisfied with the skills of recent Tourism graduates (7.4 out of 10).
- According to employers, the skills that will gain in importance in tourism in the future are related to ICT and languages.
4) A final debate on the challenges identified and the results of the study, which featured Saturnino Martínez, director of the Canary Islands Agency (ACCUEE); Pablo González, representative of the business sector (Ashotel); and Marta Lozano, bachelor's degree in Tourism from the University of Extremadura and master's degree in Electronic Tourism from the University of Málaga.
Go to our website for the video and the document REACU Conclusiones webinar turismo [available in Spanish] of the webinar.