Tourism Education and Assessment: Perspectives in Portuguese Higher Education

Abstract

The paper focuses on the issues of assessment and accreditation of study cycles in Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure in the Portuguese Higher Education System. The study was developed grounded on a literature review based on the perspective of the Portuguese Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education - A3ES, a private law foundation, with legal status and recognized as being of public utility and independent in its decisions, while considering the guidelines prescribed by the State. The Bologna declaration has allowed the implementation of more efficient and transparent assessment procedures and methods, in higher education institutions as well as their study cycles. Considering this, several systems and mechanisms have been developed in the procedures for the assessment of higher education institutions and subsequently (or not) of their study programmes. The methodology applied was the analysis of the data provided by the A3ES, focusing on all the study cycles in the Tourism, Leisure, Hospitality and Catering areas, for every range in the higher education in Portugal. The results contribute significantly to the identification of the state of the art on the efficiency and performance of the study programs in these areas, in the perspective of a substantial recognition of the improvement of the teaching methods and the construction of a solid scientific knowledge in this area.