Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
established incrementally. This has involved
some improving information and promotion
systems and personnel skills. However, such
processes need additional financial resources,
and these are limited in both the national
budget and the tourism enterprises.
in tourism education and training (Faché, 1998,
2000).
New Features of Tourism Education
in Poland
The necessity for change in tourism education
standards has been created by the two major
transformations in the political and economic
situation in Poland: the implementation of a
market economy after 1989, and EU accession
in 2004. These two factors placed the national
tourism sector in a more competitive environ-
ment, demanding that tourism enterprises seek
highly skilled personnel. Therefore, both educa-
tion curricula and training are being revised
both by the Ministry of Education and higher
education institutions (HEIs). Some aspects of
the development of tourism education and train-
ing in Poland are now discussed.
A Shift in Education for the Tourism
Sector Toward Quality and Innovation
In order to maintain or increase market share
in the intensified competition, customer orienta-
tion and non-price factors have taken on strate-
gic significance in the management of product
development (Faché and Marciszewska, 2004)
and distribution. Competition through quality has
had a demonstrably beneficial effect on market
retention and return on investment, as well as
supporting and improving competitiveness and
contributing to cost reduction, increased efficiency
and improvements in productivity. Having rec-
ognized the role of customer-perceived quality
and satisfaction in generating repeat business
and increased hospitality, tourism organizations
elsewhere have adopted quality strategies and
evaluation techniques (Augustyn and Pheby,
2000; Gyimóthy, 2000). As a consequence of
this, quality management is becoming a crucial
subject of study for students of tourism; but
national perspective on service quality in tourism
is not enough: cross-cultural aspects of service
in tourism require cross-cultural understanding.
The service demand expectations of tourists are
dependent on their national/cultural background.
Therefore, an analysis of cultural differences is
important, considering that internationalization is
fundamental to the industry, and cultural diver-
sity is vital to the attractiveness of the product
itself (Pizam, 2000, p. 396).
Further, those who supply the service, such
as hotels, also have different concepts of service
quality, depending on their national and cul-
tural background. Polish tourism enterprises
have to compete with foreign tour operators,
and thus it is important for Polish tourism
personnel and students that they acquire a
cross-cultural understanding by experiential
learning, not least because 'national cultures
have a moderating effect on tourist behaviour'
(Pizam, 2000, p. 406). This requires a different
pedagogical approach from that usually adopted
The development of a curriculum in
tourism higher education which focuses
on business-oriented or
management-oriented subjects
A decade ago, Jung and Mierzejewska (1996,
p. 67) could point out that
higher education in Poland still largely suffers
from a clear lack of focus. It has traditionally
been activity-oriented (preparing 'animators' of
social and qualified tourism), spatially-oriented
(preparing spatial planners specialised in
tourism and recreation, destined to work in
planning commissions and local government)
or functionally-oriented (preparing administra-
tors of state-owned hotels and travel agencies).
This approach has been changing due to
triangular cooperation between the Ministry of
Education, HEIs and the Ministry of the Econ-
omy. This is initiating changes in the curriculum
to make it more skills-oriented and appropriate
to the requirements of the job market. The cur-
rent curriculum for tourism and recreation has
been under discussion in terms of how to adapt
it to meet new national and global require-
ments. One move is to replace some of the
sport recreation activities with economic and
managerial subjects such as tourism markets,
