Education goes global with TEFI tourism course

MODUL University Vienna already boasts an incredibly diverse student body with faculty and staff from all over the world, and our students now have the opportunity to participate in TEFI (Tourism Education Futures Initiative) online courses conducted in partnership with universities in Brazil, the United States, Switzerland, New Zealand and Denmark.

In the fall 2010 semester, eight MU students took part in the first offering of this dynamic new program, which ‘’seeks to provide vision, knowledge and a framework for tourism education programs to promote global citizenship and optimism for a better world.’’ The TEFI Global Tourism Course specifically promotes the core values of ethics, stewardship, knowledge, professionalism, and mutuality, which are also embraced in the philosophy of MODUL University Vienna. Upon completion, the students were awarded a certificate; Livia Cravos and Robert Wilfing are pictured below displaying their achievements.

Concerned that the current offerings for tourism programs at the undergraduate and graduate level are not fully able to meet the ever increasing demands of the tourism, the course has been developed as a bridge to promote solutions and harmonies between business and wider society in a global context. The tourism students of today will seek future employment in an industry where they will be expected to respond actively to the complexities of an ever-changing landscape, and this course prepares students for the reality of the post university job market. Considering the rapid changes and developments in tourism, many students will be occupying jobs that do not even exist today. Through a series of interactive lectures addressing current and future trends in tourism and leisure, the TEFI Global Tourism Course encourages students to deepen their understanding of the meaning of tourism and the challenges the industry is facing from an international point of view.

Prof. Dr. Dagmar Lund-Durlacher, Dean of the BBA in Tourism and Hospitality Management, is a member of the Tourism Education Futures Initiative, and will actively participate be moderating a session at the TEFI World Congress in Philadelphia from May 18th-21st. She was heavily involved in the development of TEFI Global Tourism Course, and introduced and led the first TEFI course at MODUL University Vienna. An in-depth description of the TEFI Global Tourism Course including a discussion of the successes and challenges encountered will be presented during the TEFI world congress.

MU heartily congratulates Livia Cravos, Nicola Herrmann, Gabriel Horrak, Domonokos Kekesi, Mona Kulekov, Marthissa März, Jahangir Müller Tariverdi and Robert Wilfing on being the first students in Austria to receive this certification!

For more on the initiative visit: www.tourismeducationfutures.org