Information Technology Competencies in Tourism Management Education

This article focuses on the types of generic information technology (IT) competencies that are essential in the tourism industry from the perspective of the IT syllabus taught at the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) in Macao. The significance of IT in the tourism sector is discussed wherein factors attributable to the gap between what is taught and what ought to be taught in a tourism business management program are identified. Then the nature of the IT syllabus in tourism management education is brought into focus whereby IT applications are differentiated in accordance with their operational and strategic utility. The usage of these applications in a wide spectrum of disciplines in tourism business management studies as well as in professional management practices is discussed, on the basis of which “career critical” applications are identified from the context of the development of managerial competencies in students majoring in tourism business management.