Education of Tourism and Hotel-and-Restaurant Specialists in Ukraine

Introduction

Global trends in social development and competition in the labour market lead to increased requirements for the training of specialists in various fields.

As it is well known, the tourism business confidently achieves the first position in comparison with other sectors of the economy in the world. Areas of services such as hotel and restaurant complex, tourism and recreational business can make a significant contribution to the growth of national economies. Accelerated development of this area will contribute to the dynamic expansion of the domestic market as a basis for stable economic growth in some regions, especially in the negative conditions caused by the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The leading goals of modern higher education institutions of Ukraine are professional training of competent and competitive professionals capable of self-development and self-realization in the chosen profession. So the quality training of future professionals in tourism as a priority component of the hospitality industry is important for the socio-economic development of Ukraine.

Ukraine, in particular the Kherson region, is a unique territory for tourism and recreation, which has enough advantages for the formation and development of powerful resorts and tourist complexes. To service them, there is a need to update the educational process of training tourism professionals, as well as to carry out business activities in this area. In Ukraine, there is a Strategy for the development of tourism and resorts for the period up to 2026 (2017), Laws: “On Tourism” (2020), “On Higher Education” (2019), “On Education” (2017), many legal documents in which the basic requirements are stated. There is a strategy for the development of the Kherson region until 2027, which prescribes a tourist and recreational complex. All this requires the presence of specialists in the field of tourism with entrepreneurship knowlege. Mentioned documents identify the ways of state policy for the development of tourism infrastructure, the importance of the problem of forming the entrepreneurial qualities of specialists in the field of human resources development, which involves improving the training of specialists in tourism and resorts and other areas related to tourism and hospitality. In the XXI century there is a special demand for higher education, in particular for vocational education, due to awareness of its importance for the economic, socio-cultural and spiritual development of civilization, the formation of information and communication society, where knowledge as a specific form of information plays a crucial role. During the years of Ukraine's independence, the main legislative field of the education sector has been formed, and the legal framework for the creation and development of state standards of vocational education has been developed. The industry standard is a legislative norm in Ukraine and guarantees by the state the right of citizens to quality tourism education.

Thus, the relevance of the topic of this chapter is caused by the rapid development of the tourism and hotel and restaurant industry in Ukraine, the geographical area of ​​which is unique. In Ukraine, there is wide access to the Dnieper waterway. The country has access to two seas at the same time − the Black and Azov Seas. Accordingly, the state directs its activities to encourage young people to be active, develop innovative products and start a business in the hospitality industry through competitions at the regional and sectoral levels. In higher education institutions of Ukraine, social orders for highly qualified specialists in the field of services and tourism and growth of innovative potential of institutions and enterprises of the hospitality industry, creation of opportunities for small and medium business development within the hospitality industry and unwillingness of specialists to adapt to professional activity. The need for knowledge formation for students is carried out in higher education institutions. The content of educational programs is improved, such as information and methodological supplementation of professional disciplines and development of educational and methodical support, methods (interactive methods, business games, project technologies, visualization methods, educational work with web resources, feedback methods, etc.), organizational forms (traditional and innovative lectures, practical classes, pieces of training, round tables, research work of applicants), teaching aids, which are systematized and implemented in higher education institutions.