Degree in Tourism

• TOURISM DIPLOMA 2012-13
• TOURISM DIPLOMA 2013-14
• TOURISM DEGREE 2013-14
• TOURISM DEGREE 2014-15
• TOURISM DEGREE 2015-16
• TOURISM DEGREE 2016-17
• TOURISM DEGREE 2017-18
• TOURISM DEGREE 2018-19
• TOURISM DEGREE 2019-20
• TOURISM DEGREE 2020-21
• TOURISM DEGREE 2021-22
• TOURISM DEGREE 2022-23

The Degree in Tourism constitutes the adaptation to the European Area of Higher Education of the current official title of Diploma in Tourism, taught at the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of the ULPGC since the academic year 1996-97. These studies have also been conducted since the 1998-99 academic year at the attached center of the Lanzarote University School of Tourism and since the 2005-06 academic year in non-presential mode through the Teletraining Structure of the ULPGC. The coordination of the different Centers in which the indicated degree is taught is the responsibility of the Office of the Vice-Rector for Academic Organization and the European Space for Higher Education.

Traditionally professionals in the tourism sector have been trained by Tourism Schools within the scope of professional training. However, different economic and social sectors confirmed the need to offer regulated university-level training in tourism. The current official title of Diploma in Tourism arose within the framework of Royal Decree 259/1996 of February 16, under which the incorporation of tourism studies into the University occurs, inaugurating a new stage in the training of professionals and thus responding to the demands of the sector. This made possible new opportunities for promoting research in the tourism field.

For decades Spain has occupied a prominent place among the countries that receive international tourism. According to data from the World Tourism Organization, Spain ranks second in the world, after France, in receiving international tourists. In 2007, 59.2 million international tourists arrived in Spain. The contribution of tourism to GDP is estimated at around 12 percent, according to data from the Institute of Tourism Studies (www.iet.es). Since Spain is a world power in tourism, the need for specific studies in this area is understood.

This need is even more accentuated in the Canary Islands. Tourism plays a central role in the productive system and the generation of employment in the Canary Islands, just as it occurs in tourism in Spain. This is clear from the results collected in the Study of the Economic Impact of Tourism (IMPACTUR) carried out in the Canary Islands, according to which tourist activities in 2006 explained a third of GDP (29.9%) and employment (34.2 %) of the islands. With these figures, tourism from the Canary Islands is consolidated, in turn, as one of the pillars of the Spanish tourism sector since the 11,757 million euros generated by tourist activities in the Canary Islands represent 11.1% of the actual economic impact of tourism in the whole of the state. In this way, the critical role played by tourism in the Canary Islands is observed, being after the Balearic Islands. In this autonomous community, tourism contributes a more significant amount of economic activity to the productive regional system.

According to provisional data from the INE, in 2007, the Canary Islands, with almost 16% of tourists, held third place in tourist arrivals, preceded by Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. However, from the aggregate evolution of the tourist figures for 2006 and the trend shown by the development of Canarian tourism over the last five years, the urgent need to strengthen the competitiveness of the islands is evident, and this involves, among other issues, guaranteeing training professionalization of human resources working in the sector.
The importance of tourism for the Canary Islands has fostered the existence of many researchers within the ULPGC who carry out their work in the field considered. This is clear from the many lines of research on tourism and its problems. The following serves as an example: tourism and sustainable development, tourism marketing, business management, and tourist destinations, language applied to tourism, new management trends applied to the tourism sector, business, and tourism, alternative tourism: identity and image, political anthropology of tourism, regional economy and tourism, tourism, and space, among others.

The link and professional relationship with the tourist business as well as with the Public Administrations with competence in tourism, is consolidated and is very positive and fruitful, as demonstrated in the continuity of the offer of practical companies and tourist institutions of the environment that are offered to students enrolled in the third year of the current Diploma in Tourism degree. Thus, in recent years, internships have been managed for an annual average of 45 students specializing in Hotel Administration in more than 56 hotels in Gran Canaria, Germany, and England. Simultaneously, and for an average of 20 students per academic year in the Leisure and Recreation specialty, internships were also managed with the Gran Canaria Tourist Board, with companies organizing and managing events and tourist activities, as well as with entities of tourist information and travel agencies. In addition, it should be noted that there is currently an agreement encompassing all hotel and non-hotel companies associated with the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs of the Province of Las Palmas for internships in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura. Likewise, agreements have been signed with the National Paradores Network and with NH Hoteles to have national and international internship centers.

The central objective of the Degree in Tourism is to train professionals with a specialized profile in tourism that considers the needs of business management and the tourist use of natural and cultural resources, with a global knowledge of all areas related to tourism and with the ability to lead the development of projects and adapt efficiently to a rapidly changing environment. In addition, taking into account the guidelines of the R.D. 1393/2007, of October 29, which establishes the organization of official university studies, it must be kept in mind that the training of graduates must not only be governed by academic content but also, as stated in its preamble,? Finally, it must be taken into account that training in any professional activity must contribute to the knowledge and development of Human Rights, democratic principles, the principles of equality between women and men, solidarity, environmental protection, universal accessibility, and design for all and the promotion of a culture of peace? Considering at all times the integral formation of students.

Concerning such an important topic as the incorporation of women into higher education and the labor market, in the economics studies of the ULPGC, in recent years, progress has been made rapidly, and it stands out that the number of women enrolled in studies of Tourism is comparable to that of men. In addition, in the Degree in Tourism, there are various subjects in which the principles of equality between men and women, solidarity, environmental protection, and universal accessibility are a fundamental part of their contents.

According to the White Book of the Degree in Tourism, the specific objectives of higher education in Tourism are:

• Respond to existing training needs by facilitating knowledge of useful tools for decision-making in the current context of tourism.
• Offer a fundamental training corpus of a superior nature that allows technical specialization and management of tourism companies and institutions.
• Address essential aspects for developing competitive advantages concerning products and destinations.
• Generate specific specialization profiles that consider both the needs of business management and the management of collective aspects, particularly the tourist use of natural and cultural resources.
• Homogenize the transmission of knowledge in tourism, avoiding the fragmentation of the contents to be taught due to excessive areas of expertise.
• Create the conditions for developing lines of research of a transdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary nature.

To achieve these objectives, the study plan's subjects allow the student to acquire general and specific skills. Determining the Degree in Tourism competencies has been done, referencing the White Book for the Degree in Tourism of ANECA. On the other hand, the essential competencies established in Annex I of Royal Decree 1393/2007 of October 29, which shows the organization of official university education and the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Education, have been considered. Superior (MECES), as well as article 11 of the Regulations for preparing official titles of the ULPGC. In this way, it will be guaranteed that graduated students:

• CB1. Demonstrate that they possess and understand knowledge in a field of study that starts from the base of general secondary education. It is usually found at a level that, although supported by advanced textbooks, also includes some aspects that imply knowledge from the vanguard of his field of study.
• CB2. Know how to apply their knowledge to their work or vocation professionally and have the skills usually demonstrated through developing and defending arguments and problem-solving within their area of study.
• CB3. They can gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their area of study) to make judgments that include reflection on social, scientific, or ethical issues.
• CB4. They can transmit information, ideas, problems, and solutions to specialized and non-specialized audiences.
• CB5. I have developed the learning skills necessary for further studies with a high degree of autonomy.

Likewise, the establishment of the competencies of the Bachelor's Degree in Tourism complies with the current norms and regulations regarding the principles of equal opportunities, non-discrimination, and accessibility, contemplated in Law 51/2003 of December 2, on equal opportunity. Options, non-discrimination, and universal accessibility for people with disabilities. For this, the Directorate of Psychosocial Care of the Office of the Vice President for Students and University Extension of the ULPGC has established different programs and measures to integrate students with disabilities fully.

Specifically, the competencies of the Degree in Tourism by the ULPGC have been organized around three blocks: (1) nuclear, alluding to a set of competencies specific to the ULPGC with which it is sought that people who study their studies and finally obtain the degree corresponding to their degree present a graduate profile that reveals an authentic sense of professionalism, (2) general, which are those that refer to the training of a university student in a generic sense, and (3 ) specific, which are those that refer to those that must be developed in a particular way by graduates in tourism.

Below is a detailed description of the competencies students with the Graduate Degree in Tourism must achieve.

NUCLEAR COMPETENCES

• CN1. Communicate appropriately and respectfully with different audiences (clients, collaborators, promoters, social agents, etc.), using the most appropriate supports and means of communication (especially the new information and communication technologies) so that they can reach understand the interests, needs, and concerns of people and organizations, as well as clearly express the sense of the mission entrusted to him and how he can contribute, with his professional skills and knowledge, to the satisfaction of those interests, needs, and concerns.
• CN2. Cooperate with other people and organizations in effectively performing functions and tasks of their professional profile, developing a reflective attitude about their professional skills and knowledge and an understanding and empathetic attitude towards the skills and knowledge of other professionals.
• CN3. Contribute to the continuous improvement of their profession and the organizations in which they develop their practices through active participation in research, development, and innovation processes.
• CN4. Actively engage in the development of professional practices that respect human rights and the ethical norms of their professional field to generate trust in the beneficiaries of their profession and obtain the legitimacy and authority that society recognizes.
• CN5. Actively participate in multicultural integration that favors full human development, coexistence, and social justice.

GENERIC COMPETENCIES

• CG1. Ability to manage information.
• CG2. I work in different sociocultural contexts.
• GC3. Creativity.
• GC4. Initiative and entrepreneurial spirit.
• GC5. Motivation for quality.
• GC6. Capacity for analysis and synthesis.
• GC7. Oral and written communication in Spanish.
• GC8. Problem resolution.
• GC9. Critical thinking.
• GC10. Ethical commitment.
• GC11. Autonomous Learning.
• GC12. Adaptation to new situations
• GC13. decision making
• GC14. Teamwork

SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES OF THE DEGREE IN TOURISM

• CE1. Understand the principles of tourism: its spatial, social, cultural, political, labor, and economic dimension.
• CE2. Analyze the economic dimension of tourism.
• CE3. Understand the dynamic and evolutionary nature of tourism and the new leisure society.
• CE4. Know the main tourist political-administrative structures.
• CE5. Have a strong customer service orientation.
• CE6. Know the characteristics of the main tourist agents.
• CE7. Evaluate the tourist potential and the prospective analysis of their exploitation.
• CE8. Analyze demographic, economic, social, and cultural trends and their impact on tourism.
• CE9. Analyze, synthesize, and critically summarize tourism organizations' financial and analytical information.
• CE10. Manage financial resources.
• CE11. Define objectives, strategies, and business policies.
• CE12. Direct and manage the different types of tourist entities.
• CE13. Manage communication techniques
• CE14. Understand the legal framework that regulates tourist activities.
• CE15. Fluency in English and improvement and intensification, at least, of a second foreign language.
• CE16. Identify and manage spaces and tourist destinations.
• CE17. Manage the tourist territory following the principles of sustainability.
• CE18. Know the operational procedure of the field of accommodation.
• CE19. Know the operating procedure of the restoration field.
• CE20. Know the operating procedures of brokerage companies.
• CE21. Analyze the impacts generated by tourism.
• CE22. Use and analyze information and communication technologies (ICT) in different areas of the tourism sector.
• CE23. Understand a public plan and the opportunities that arise for the private sector.
• CE24. Plan and manage the human resources of tourist organizations.
• CE25. Understand the operation of tourist destinations, structures and markets, and their business sectors worldwide.
• CE26. Know the initiatives to value cultural heritage and understand its management characteristics.
• CE27. Detect technical planning needs for tourist infrastructures and facilities.
• CE28. Analyze the interrelationships between tourism and the environment.
• CE29. Assume job responsibilities

Taking into account the historical data obtained and considering that students in the new university framework will have to considerably increase their work time, the following estimate is considered foreseeable:

• Graduation rate: 30%
• Dropout rate: 18%
• Efficiency rate: 75%

Following RD 1393/2007, of October 29, which establishes the organization of official university education, the indicators mentioned above will be calculated as follows:

Graduation rate: percentage of students who complete their education within the time stipulated in the study plan or one more academic year concerning their entry cohort

Dropout rate: percentage relationship between the total number of students in a new admission cohort who should have obtained their degree the previous academic year and who have not enrolled in that academic year or the previous one.

Efficiency rate: percentage relationship between the total number of credits in the study plan that the group of graduates of a given academic year should have enrolled in throughout their studies and the total number of credits they had to enroll in.