Vocational tourism education at high school level and competencies of students doing skills training in businesses

Tourism is an economic, social and cultural event that takes place with the participation of people. Countries that create tourism supply have given importance to the education of the workforce employed in the tourism sector, with the increase in their income from tourism. Countries with a strong supply side in tourism have shaped their vocational training in line with their own education policies. Vocational education in Turkey is regulated by the Vocational Education Law No. 3308. Changes, additions and updates were made in the law in order to respond to the developing and changing needs. Vocational tourism education is also carried out within the scope of the Vocational Education Law No. 3308. In hotel management and tourism education, students' theoretical lessons are applied in workshops and classrooms equipped according to the needs of the field, and practical training is applied in businesses. Businesses that provide accommodation and food and beverage services in the tourism sector are an important stakeholder in tourism education. Therefore, the opinions of sector representatives are valuable in shaping tourism education. In this study, it is aimed to determine the opinions and evaluations of the sector representatives about the qualifications of the students. In this context, within the scope of the "Vocational Education Development Cooperation Protocol" signed between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of National Education, 38 hotel enterprises (housekeeping, food and beverage, kitchen, etc.) front office and human resources) 190 department managers formed the universe of the study. A questionnaire consisting of 2 parts and 32 items was applied to the department managers and a complete count was made. As a result of the analyzes made with parametric and descriptive methods, it was found that the age, professional experience and educational status of the participants did not cause any difference in the scores they gave to the items. The most striking finding of the study is that as the number of personnel and students working in the enterprise increases, the perceptions of the administrators about the professional development of the students decrease.