It is a paradox that speaks volumes. France, regularly ranked first tourist destination by the World Tourism Organization, is not among the most popular countries for students who want to train in this field. Each year, various organizations – QS Top Universities, CEO World Magazine and Education.com – publish lists of the best international diplomas specializing in tourism and hospitality. No French formation appears in these charts. As pointed out, in 2019, the report the National Assembly’s information mission on tourism, “The tourist industry remains, despite recent progress, generally discredited in the French education system”.
It must be said that the “tourism” discipline is not recognized by the National Council of Universities, the body which guides the careers of teacher-researchers in France. Several universities offer specific courses, but tourism is not seen as a field of research in its own right. “In the research world, I often hear this expression: ‘Tourismology does not exist.’ However, I have friends who have doctorates in tourism in Spain, the United States, and Italy ”, regrets Sophie Lacour, doctor of information sciences, who defended a thesis on territorial innovation in tourism.
If she is proud of her new position as head of the tourism chair at Esthua (University of Angers), the speaker and consultant has many friends who “Do not even dare to say that they have a master’s degree in tourism, because we are laughing at them”. “At school, when you are bad, you are called a ‘tourist’. I taught for fifteen years, and I was sometimes overwhelmed by the level of the students, who orient themselves in this field by default. The academic image of the sector is deplorable. “
While Switzerland shines internationally thanks to the prestigious Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, French training courses remain unknown
From BTS tourism to bachelors, licenses to higher schools, France nevertheless has a “Qualitative and plethoric educational offer”, recalls Pierre-Frédéric Roulot, big boss of Louvre Hotels. However, while neighboring Switzerland shines internationally thanks to the prestigious Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, French training courses remain little known, laments the new president of the Conference of Excellence in Tourism Training, an association created in 2015 to promote the influence of French establishments providing training in the field of tourism: “The Lausanne school is actually about twenty establishments speaking with one voice. In France, the sector is fragmented, with a large number of players insufficiently grouped together. “
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