1. 1 Industry perceptions towards the introduction of short cycle higher education in tourism in Bulgaria Stanislav Ivanov. Ph. D. Academic Director International University College. Dobrich. Bulgaria http://www.vumk.eu Editor-in-chief European Journal of Tourism Research

2. 2 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Industry perceptions towards the introduction of short cycle higher education in tourism in Bulgaria  Problem statement  Methodology  Results  Discussion and conclusion  Acknowledgements

3. 3 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Problem statement  Goal of (short cycle) higher education – creating thinking and employable people  A person is employable if the industry (the customer of labour) considers him/her as employable. not the government (legislation) or education institutions  Do Bulgarian tourist companies consider graduates with an Associate degree as employable?  Would Bulgarian tourist companies employ a graduate with an Associate degree?

4. 4 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Methodology Overview  Questionnaire sent to 319 hotels and 432 travel agencies (tour operators and travel agents) in Bulgaria  Combination of email based and paper-and- pencil survey  Personalised and general emails  Reminder sent 2 weeks after the initial contact  Response rate – 32 hotels (10.02%) and 13 travel agencies (3.01%)  Response rate in line with Illum, Ivanov and Liang (2009)

5. 5 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Methodology Sample description Number of employeesNumber of respondents 1-411 5-97 10-247 25-497 50-993 100-2499 ≥2501

6. 6 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Methodology Sample description Percentage of full time employees Number of respondents <50 %9 50-75 %3 > 75 %29 n.a.4

7. 7 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Methodology Sample description Percentage of seasonally employed personnel in 2009 Number of respondents < 25 %18 25-50 %4 50-75 %3 > 75 %7 n.a.13

8. 8 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results Structure of employees by educational level Educational levelAverage share among respondents No education / Primary3.9 % Secondary51.3 % Professional Bachelor16.9 % Bachelor14.0 % Master13.5 % Doctor0.4 %

9. 9 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results Corporate expenses on training

10. 10 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results Duration of introductory training

11. 11 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results Do higher educational degrees give better qualification of people to work in your company? AnswerNumber of respondents Definitely yes26.7% Yes31.1 % Not sure26.7 % No8.9 % Definitely no4.4 % n.a.1

12. 12 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results Is there a need for additional professional training of your employees? AnswerNumber of respondents Definitely yes66.7% Yes26.7 % Not sure4.4 % No2.2 % Definitely no0

13. 13 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results What change do you observe in employees after additional training? AnswerNumber of respondents * Higher motivation37.8 % Working more efficiently and effectively 64.4 % No change2.2 % Cannot answer8.9 % Other0 * Percentages greater than 100 because respondents could give more than 1 answer

14. 14 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results What will be the effect of the introduction of short cycle higher education in tourism in Bulgaria? AnswerNumber of respondents Higher competitiveness of graduates31.1 % Diversification of the educational structure 37.8 % Shortening of corporate trainings6.7 % No change8.9 % Cannot answer11.1 % Other (negative)2.2 %

15. 15 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results Would you hire in your company a person with an Associate degree in tourism?

16. 16 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results Identify the key knowledge and skills of employable young people in your company? AnswerNumber of respondents Languages31 % Professional training22 % Computer skills13 % Communication skills13 % Knowledge about the business environment 9 %

17. 17 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Results Identify the key qualities of employable young people in your company? AnswerNumber of respondents Communicative18 % Motivated18 % Responsible18 % Team player18 % Willingness to work11 % Initiative11 % Creative11 %

18. 18 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Discussion and conclusion  85 % of respondents would higher a person with an Associate degree in tourism (compare with 55 % of respondents’ employees are without higher education and 17 % have college degree – Professional Bachelor)  SHE should develop the student qualities, desired by the industry – communication, responsibility, team work, initiative, creativity  Companies prefer that new employees have basic professional knowledge and skills (computers, communication, languages) rather than rich work experience

19. 19 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Discussion and conclusion  University education is not enough and companies need to additionally train new employees  Tourist companies are not interested in the problems of higher education in tourism or suspicious towards surveys (low response rates)  They probably do not believe that their opinion will have an impact  Introduction of SHE in tourism might not have a significant impact of corporate trainings

20. 20 Stanislav Ivanov International University College Acknowledgements  The author would like to thank Denitsa Yordanova and Gergana Dimitrova, Ph. D., from International Projects Department at International University College, Bulgaria, for their support during the research

21. 21 Stanislav Ivanov International University College References  Illum. S. F., S. Ivanov, Y. Liang (2009) Using virtual communities in tourism research. Tourism Management (forthcoming)