DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM MANAGEMENT
The Department of Tourism Management was established within the Faculty of Tourism of Afyon Kocatepe University with the decision numbered 2013/4710 published in the Official Gazette on 24.05.2013 and started to accept its first students in the 2014-2015 academic year. Currently, 1 professor, 4 associate professors, 2 assistant professors, 1 research assistant and 2 lecturers work in the department which is one of the first Tourism Management Departments accredited by TURAK (Tourism Accreditation Board) in Turkey. Tourism Management Department Master’s Program was established in 2007 as Tourism Management and Hotel Management Department and received its first students in the 2008-2009 academic year. Tourism Management and Hospitality Management Graduate Program was transformed into Tourism Management Department in 2013. The department is also continuing education and training activities in Master’s and Doctorate Programs.
Tourism, which is a part of the service industry, is based on human psychology as an employee and customer, makes a great contribution to the economy of countries. The economic value in the tourism sector, which has its own characteristics such as simultaneous production and consumption, labor-intensive structure, and consumption where it is produced, is formed through accommodation, food and beverage, travel and marketing businesses. The service in tourism needs to be high quality and continuously developable because of these reasons: the intangibility of the product in the tourism sector, people are the basic inputs in production, time is sold, easy to imitate, intense competition and a structure that is easily affected by external factors. This situation makes business management important in sector enterprises.
In this direction, the aim of the Tourism Management Program is to provide a qualified workforce with the ability and experience to work in an intense competitive environment to accommodation, food and beverage, travel agencies and transportation businesses that make up the sector. The program also aims to provide students with a solid theoretical formation about tourism management. In this context, besides basic business knowledge, students will have educations on Agency Automation Programs such as Tourism Management, Hospitality Management, Travel Agency and Tour Operator, Front Office and Housekeeping Management, Food and Beverage Management, Accommodation Automation Programs, Ticketing and Central Reservation Systems, Marketing, Tourism Geography. , Human Resources Management in Tourism Enterprises, Organizational Behavior, Tourism Economics, Tourism Policy and Planning, Accounting in Tourism Enterprises, Cost Accounting in Tourism Enterprises, Financial Management in Tourism Enterprises.
The tourism sector is an area where qualified human resource is needed. When the data of the sector in the world and Turkey are examined, it can be seen that the sector is in a continuous growth. For this reason, the tourism sector is in a promising position and the need for personnel in the sector will be more in the future. Therefore, the graduates of the Tourism Management Program will not have many employment problems. Graduates of the Department of Tourism Management can be employed in accommodation businesses, travel agencies, airline businesses, and in all businesses in the tourism sector, in terms of the courses they will take. Graduated students can use their entrepreneurship and establish their own accommodation and travel businesses thanks to the management education they receive. Graduates of Tourism management can also find employment opportunities in public institutions. The graduates can work as teaching staff at universities. Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorates and Information Bureaus are among the organizations that provide employment opportunities.
There are 23 classrooms and a computer lab in the faculty. In our computer laboratory, there are 60 computers with internet access, package programs related to tourism management and which our department students will benefit from both in their future careers and in their courses. As the Tourism Management department, vocational package programs are given to our students as courses. Internship and working abroad are also offered to our students within the cooperation of international relations coordinator and our department chair. In order to receive graduation certificates, the students must complete a 60 working days internship during their undergraduate education in addition to the four-year program (240 ECTS) – five years for preparatory students. These internships are carried out within the framework of the “Afyon Kocatepe Summer Internship Directive” and the “Summer Internship Principles of the Faculty of Tourism”.
The Faculty of Tourism, in which educational activities are carried out, is located in the Ahmet Necdet Sezer Main Campus, which is the central campus of Afyon Kocatepe University. This situation is an advantage for students to benefit from many facilities (social, cultural, sportive activities, congress center, cafeteria, etc.) at the campus. Thanks to the sports facilities, students can do sports like football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, table tennis, badminton, athletics, rhythmic gymnastics, step mountaineering, boxing, wrestling, taekwondo and karate and participate in tournaments by entering teams. During the academic year, seminars, symposiums, conferences, panels and interviews are held on various subjects. On the other hand, there are student clubs operating on the university campus to allow students to continuously improve themselves, and it is possible for department students to participate in these activities. For example, there are clubs such as technology club, travelers club, folklore club, photography club, literature club, book club, aviation club, young entrepreneurs club, bicycle club and scouting club at the university, and it is possible for students to participate in these activities.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM
1: They work as middle and senior managers in national and international respected tourism enterprises that contribute and direct the development of the tourism sector.
2: They work as academic staff in other public institutions, especially in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and in related departments of universities by continuing their graduate education and academic development.
3: They start their own businesses as entrepreneurs in the tourism sector or other fields.
DEPARTMENT DUTIES
To train managers with dynamic management and leadership skills based on community-oriented hospitality for tourism businesses and contemporary industry experience; to train scientists who can work in the relevant departments of universities and to educate competitive entrepreneur candidates who will improve the position of the tourism sector.
EXAMS, ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
Assessment and evaluation applied for each course is defined detail in the “Course Teaching Plan”. Examinations, assessment, evaluation and graduation conditions are basically organized according to the procedures and principles defined in Afyon Kocatepe University Education-Training and Examination Regulations. In this direction, the program includes mid-term exam, quiz, final exam, internship exam, make-up exam, single course exam and make-up exam. The Grade Scale is applied as stated in the Education and Examination Regulations of the University.
GRADE ACHIEVED
Graduates who successfully complete the program get a bachelor’s degree in the field.
ACCEPTANCE AND REGISTRATION
General admission requirements for Turkish and foreign students are valid to start the program. In order to register for the department, the students must be successful in the exams within the scope of the Student Selection and Placement System (ÖSYS) conducted by the Measurement, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM). The conditions determined by the university for foreign students are valid for the admission of foreign students to the department.
ACCESSING TO HIGHER DEGREE PROGRAMS
Students have the right to apply for MA and PhD programs in tourism and management programs, provided that they get a valid grade from the ALES exam and have sufficient foreign language knowledge.
GRADUATION CONDITIONS
In order to be graduate, the student must complete all the courses in the program and must not have a grade of FF, DZ or YZ. In this program, the student must provide the minimum ECTS credits determined in the department and the GPA must be at least 2.00 out of 4.00. In addition, the 60 (sixty) working-day “Summer Internship” must be completed in accordance with the requirements in line with the Faculty Internship Principles.
RULES ON RECOGNITION OF PREVIOUS LEARNING
The process related to the recognition of the previous achievements of the students in other Higher Education programs (courses, internships, laboratory work, etc.) in the country or abroad is carried out as following:
– Credit and grade transfer requests are made in the primary education period after the final registration of the students to the department.
– Their requests are taken into account for the relevant applications,
– A decision is made to cover the entire education by the board of directors of the department.
In addition, proficiency exams are held at the beginning of each academic term for courses such as Computer and English, which are included in the education plans of the programs. Students who are successful in the exam are exempt from the relevant course(s) in the curriculum.
PROGRAM OUTCOMES
PO1: Have knowledge of basic concepts and theories and field-specific research methods on tourism and tourism management,
PO2: Have information about the tourism sector and its sub-business branches (accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, recreation, travel businesses) and the effects of universal and social dimensions of tourism management practices in the world and in Turkey
PO3: Have information about tourism-related local, national and international organizations and their relations with each other; policies and strategies, legal regulations, occupational standards and practices.
PO4: Using the knowledge learned in the field of tourism management, they can organize, management projects, carry out and supervise workplace practices; can improve service processes when necessary.
PO5: Follows the current developments in tourism management, analyzes and interprets them, and contributes to personal development by making inferences for himself/herself.
PO6: Have the ability to effectively use of computer software (front office automation, reservation, ticketing and sales etc.) and information technologies used in tourism businesses.
PO7: Presents them in a clear and understandable way by making researches for the solution of the problems in the field of tourism management and for the development of the profession.
PO8: Takes -both independent and as a team member- effective responsibility, , manages the team and can communicate with experts in other fields.
PO9: Contributes to the professional development of the employees under his responsibility with individual and team evaluation, finds a solution by taking the initiative in case of crisis.
PO10: Increase their skills and competencies by making their professional and personal development (social, cultural and artistic) continuously.
PO11: Communicate effectively with the guests in written, verbal, non-verbal and visual terms and demonstrate presentation skills while performing his/her profession.
PO12: Knows and uses a foreign language related to his/her field at B2 level (“European Language Portfolio Global Scale”, Level B2) apart from his/her mother tongue.
PO13: Knows and uses a second foreign language related to his/her field besides his/her mother tongue at B1 level (“European Language Portfolio Global Scale”, Level B1).
PO14: Apply national and international legal regulations and professional standards related to tourism management; acts with a sense of responsibility by adhering to social, scientific, cultural values and global tourism ethical codes.
PO15: Within the scope of ensuring the health and safety of the guests, he/she can provide the necessary equipment by making relevant warnings and directions in the appropriate areas within the enterprise.