HOLISTIC APPROACH TO TRAINING PROFESSIONALS FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY

With the changes undergone in the European national economies and the challenges perceived and developed in the strategic vision of Europe’s development for the next few decades, the post-industrial countries have started to elaborate a new approach to the development of their key industries in the new millennium – creative industries including those of education and tourism.

The ideologists and developers of the Bologna Process have paid much attention to holism in life-long learning of future professionals; yet, particular professional training in most fields is still under development.

Basing on systems approach, the authors have developed their own approach to training professionals for tourism industry – i.e. holistic approach involving education and tourism as industries that can support and develop each other adding value to their mutually beneficial tandem.

The authors argue what benefits can be found in the tandem and how the industries should cooperate to reach the best results. Being experienced top-managers of a leading higher school for tourism industry in Russia, the authors have developed a concept of holism in their approach to training professionals for tourism and hospitality industries and believe that the strategy they have started applying recently will yield good and prominent results.