Educational Profile of Academic Staff of Tourist Guidance Department: A Study on State Universities

Abstract

Tourist guidance education providing in universities at undergraduate, associate degree, master's and doctorate levels. The training of the tourist guidance profession, which is of great importance for the promotion and image of Turkey, should also be given by academicians who know the field and are trained in this field. The purpose of this research is to examine the graduation areas of the academicians in the departments that provide tourist guidance education at the undergraduate and associate degree levels. It is thought that the research will be important in terms of emphasizing the importance of academicians coming from the field in tourist guidance education, employing graduate academicians in tourist guide departments and guiding future studies. In the research, descriptive survey model, which is a qualitative research method, was used as a data collection technique. Research data were obtained from the web pages of universities and Counsil of Higher Education (YÖK). A total of 248 academicians working in 56 universities were identified. It has been determined that 61 (24%) of the academicians working in tourist guiding departments have Travel Management and Tourism Guidance, Travel Management and Tourism Guidance Teaching, Tourist Guidance and Tourism Guidance undergraduate and associate degree graduates. In addition, it has been determined that 138 (55%) of them have undergraduate education related to the field of tourism.