Ministry Aiming to Upgrade All Levels of Tourism Education in Greece

The Greek Tourism Ministry is aiming to directly link tourism education with the market and true needs of the sector’s businesses, according to Deputy Tourism Minister Manos Konsolas.

Speaking at a recent event of the Rodion Pedia schools on Rhodes, Konsolas said the ministry’s focus is to create added value to the Greek tourism product through the improvement and provision of new services by specialized professionals.

During his speech, Konsolas stressed that tourism education in Greece has remained stagnant and in some cases rather outdated and not in correspondence to current and future market needs.

Photo source: ASTE (tourism school of higher education) Crete.

Referring to the tourism education upgrade plan, the deputy minister said that all levels and training structures overseen by the tourism ministry are to be grouped into a new independent institution that will include research and innovation structures, English-language classes, modern fields of study and majors, directly related to the real economy.

“This new institution will incorporate the existing tourism schools of higher education (known as ASTE) and tourist guide schools; will include modern fields of study and foreign language courses; will utilize modern technologies and networking opportunities with universities abroad; and will offer provide postgraduate studies and research opportunities in the tourism sector,” he said.

Konsolas also referred to the need to create a new curriculum and modern specialties that will correspond not only to the future but also to the country’s development model for tourism in the coming years.