Location: Karabük / Level: Bachelor / Duration: 4 Years / Language of Instruction: Turkish / Mode of Study: Full Time, On-Site / Tuition Fee: USD 375 / TÖMER Fee: USD 550
The tourism industry is one of the fastest developing industries of the global economy of the 21st century. Considering the social, cultural, and economic impact of the tourism industry, it has become the most noticeable area of the development strategies of countries and the leading area of investment in their economies. Such a pace in growth means approximately 300 million professionals in the industry worldwide which corresponds to 1 out of every 16 in the workforce. Extrapolating this rate of growth means about 1,5 billion participants in tourism related economies and a total size of about 2.000 billion USD of the industry by 2020. The industry’s labor intensive character together with its complex interactions with a large number of related industries such as agriculture, commerce, transportation, finance, and the like, make the tourism industry a special one which receives disproportionately large support from the public funds and reach an unsurpassed rate of growth both in the developing and developed economies all over the world.
Tourism investments of the interested countries have not only been in the service producing areas and sectors but also have been in the training and education related to the tourism industry as well. Tourism related investment in Turkey also followed a similar pattern and relayed its resources into the educational sectors. Ranging from vocational training to doctoral and post graduate level education, tourism industry specific education has always been considered as intellectual capital and thus received strong support. Along these lines, numerous schools in the form of Faculty of Tourism have been established in many universities. These schools aim to supply the skilled manpower needs of the industry through specialized programs in academic departments such as Tourism Management, Recreation Management, Tourist Guiding, and Gastronomy and Culinary Arts.
Safranbolu is the leading tourist destination in the Western Black Sea region. With its historical architecture and original mixture of values, Safranbolu presents a unique and attractive cultural blend for the Turkish as well as international visitors. Attractiveness and noticeability of the city has been enhanced even further by the recognition of Safranbolu as one of the UNESCO World Heritage cities since 1994. As a result of such a high potential for the tourism industry, the Safranbolu Faculty of Tourism has been established within Karabük University in 2011. The Faculty aims to prepare the needed skilled professionals in several different areas of the industry for the needs of Safranbolu, Western Black Sea region as well as the other tourism regions of the country.