The Pedagogy of Tourism

University students will be part of the future design, innovation and management of tourism. Higher education in the field/discipline of tourism is complex, and now reflects sustainability perspectives as well as balance more practical and professional skills with critical and theoretical considerations.

At the same time, there has been a lack of attention paid to effective pedagogical and educational resources (i.e., pedagogical literature, classroom techniques, etc.) relating to higher education within tourism studies. In other related fields, such as geography, there are examples of how students use e. g. field diaries for their learning process during case studies and blended learning methods.

When the students enter the labor market, they will have to combine their practical and theoretical skills in new and innovative ways in order to be successful in an increasingly competitive labor market. Therefore, it is important to further develop teaching and pedagogical methods within tourism studies. There are multiple examples of collaboration between tourism higher educational programs and the tourism industry, including internships, case studies, study visits, workshops and essay writing.

What are the challenges and possibilities in promoting such collaboration while maintaining a critical and academic perspective? This session highlights how tourism and its impacts can be critically discussed within tourism education.

How can problem based learning or other pedagogical methods be used within tourism education? What are the experiences? We welcome abstracts that contribute to the above questions and put focus on learning and teaching to address the role of higher education within tourism to meet future societal challenges and aims of sustainability.