INTERNATIONALISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY TO BOOST THE STUDENTS’ COMPETENCY-BASED DEVELOPMENT

The specificity of training for tourism and hospitality industries is multi-faceted. First, it is in the variety of competencies that a tourism or hospitality student is to develop. Second, it is the applied and practical character of the competencies. Third, it is in the multidimensional character of their competencies, including servicing competencies, decision-making competencies, linguistic competencies (mastery of two or more foreign languages) and management competencies, including project management.

Students’ competency-based development is at the core of their future professionalism – creating grounds for their future professional development and careers. As is known, competency-based approach differs from the skills-based approach with its dynamism and integrity, with the development of dynamic capabilities to solve real-life problems and to find both common and uncommon solutions, which is particularly important for tourism and hospitality professionals.

Having much in common, the national tourism industries differ from country to country in many aspects – the working environment, corporate management, working traditions and national specificity (like siesta hours in Spain). Academic mobility helps to understand the national working conditions of the tourism industries in different countries in Europe and beyond, to develop working ties and grounds for future businesses and international partnerships, and, on the other hand – to develop benchmarking, identify best practices and improve the national systems of higher education including applied education (e.g. for tourism and hospitality industries).

Internationalisation of higher education is one the streamlines within the Bologna process assuming the creation of an all-European system of academic mobility, which, on the one hand is to improve the national higher education systems and on the other – to give new opportunities to university students. The authors consider the advantages of internationalization, as well as identify some deeply rooted problems and offer possible solutions basing on their vast experience as an applied university top-managers.

The presentation considers the experience of Moscow State Institute for Tourism Industry and its international partners including several universities in Finland and Italy.