Concerning higher education training. Knowledge area: Tourism

Abstract

Tourism is an economic sector that energizes the world economy in Europe is considered as the second largest sector after trade and distribution. For countries like Mexico, tourism has been established as the main economic activity, becoming this, the preferred destination worldwide.In the case of Colombia, tourism is also considered a world-class industry, there are good prospects for development of this sector and its contribution to the national economy.Thus, education institutions, in response to this dynamic tourism sector, are working on offering academic programs with particular characteristics. This proposes an analytical comparison of training in the area of Higher Education Tourism in countries like Mexico, Spain, Cuba and Colombia, on the skills analysis variables that seeks to develop in students, levels of training in the which delivers training and structure of curricula of programs in this area. Documentary research was conducted based on the collection of information from various sources, systematically reflecting on tourism training realities, in order to establish a framework references used in the design of new academic programs in the area of tourism.It is evident that in the case of the countries analyzed, the training aims at the convergence of four basic dimensions being, thinking, doing and learning, which are combined with experience-based knowledge and practice, with a clear focus on skills development.