World, National, Regional, and Other Organizations - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 91

Tourists are provided with timely information and services at tourism information centers all over the world,
such as this one in Torremolinos, Spain. Photocourtesyoftheauthor.
EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Suppliers of the tourismproduct look to educational organizations as sources of talent for their industries.
These include secondary schools, vocational schools, junior or community colleges, four-year colleges
and universities, and trade association schools and institutes. Most high schools, which are known by
various terms in different countries, offer curricula and subjects of value to travel firms. Examples are
native and foreign languages, geography, history, writing, use of computers, secretarial skills, book-
keeping, and food preparation. Many vocational schools produce entry-level employees for travel
agencies, tour companies, airlines, accommodations, food service, and other organizations, and junior and
community colleges offer education and training in various skills applicable to the travel industry.
Trade associations and professional societies are also active in education. Examples of these are the
educational programs and home-study courses of the American Society of Travel Agents, the Travel
Institute, the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the National
Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, and, in Great Britain, the Institute of Travel and
Tourism. Most public carriers, especially the airlines, provide rigorous training and educational
programs for their employees, as well as for those working for travel agencies and tour companies.
The International Labour Organization (a United Nations af liate in Geneva, Switzerland) has
conducted numerous types of training programs in tourism-related vocations. Similarly, the United
Nations World Tourism Organization conducts courses for those in of cial tourism departments.
Four-year colleges and universities provide instruction in similar skills and management education.
In keeping with the diversity of the industry, courses are offered in schools of business, schools of hotel
and restaurant administration, colleges of natural resources, commercial recreation departments,
sociology departments, geography departments, and anthropology departments. A number of schools
offer graduate programs in travel and tourism. In addition to courses and educational programs,
universities and colleges conduct a great deal of research, which is available to the industry.
The International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE) publishes a
directory listing schools that offer two-year, four-year, and graduate study programs in North America
and abroad. The publication, Guide to College Programs in Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts, 9th