Studies in the Field of Tourism and Higher Education System in Poland

Abstract

In recent years, many universities have experienced decline in recruitment. This is due to decrease of birth rate of the late 80's and 90's and the increasing number of private higher education institutions, which allow payable studying. In the academic year 2009/10 1.9 million students in Poland were studying at 456 universities, including 131 public and 325 private ones. 41 state higher education institutions used name of university, of which 18 were humanities universities, and 23 so-called adjectival. 36 universities had the status of the academy. The others were polytechnics departmental universities and state schools of higher professional education. Among the most popular fields of study Tourism and recreation took 6th place among the 125 in total, as indicated by the number of candidates for 1 place. Students are trained in the field of tourism in 75 municipalities in Poland at 183 universities, including 63 state ones. Tourism also occurs as 123 specializations in the various fields of study. It is found in the fields with similar educational profile, but also as rare and highly focused specializations. The most of universities educating in the field of Tourism and Recreation or related fields are in mazowieckie (31 universities), wielkopolskie (19), małopolskie (17) and śląskie (16) voivodeships. The smallest numbers of colleges offer such voivodeships as: opolskie (2), warmińsko- -mazurskie (3) and lubuskie (4). The popularity of this field is caused by the spread of mass tourism and rapid development of regions and sector of tourism services. An Important reason is also raising the professional qualifications and strategy for the promotion of Poland as a country attractive for tourists. However, the question arises, how useful it is to educate so many specialists in the field of tourism and whether the level of their education would allow them to find their place on a competitive labour market?