The non-consonance between tourism universities' programs and the needs of tourism employment in Jordan

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the reasons behind the contradiction between the outputs of tourism educational programs in Jordanian universities and expectations of tourism employers from the perception of tourism private businesses (travel agents and hotels), also to make an evaluation of universities' educational outcomes. Seventy-nine tourism establishments filled a questionnaire that focused on evaluating the level of students graduating from universities; this was concerning their skills and knowledge besides the degree of communication between educational bodies and the industry. The results indicate a general weakness in these aspects; based on this, the paper presented suggested implications to improve the quality of educational programs in tourism departments at Jordanian universities.