RESEARCH NOTES AND REPORTS 437

1988 ASTA World Travel Congress

James C. Stribling Texas A&M University, USA

The ASTA World Congress was held in Budapest on October 23-29, 1988 with a record participation of over 6,000 representing 3,000 travel agents and over 3,000 affiliates composed of carriers, cruise lines, hotels and resorts, package tour organizers, car rental companies, and government travel and tourism agencies. The theme of the Congress was “state of the industry.”

There were over 600 booths in the Trade Fair. The congress officially opened on October 24, 1989. The opening ceremonies included the US Color Guard and a loo-piece Gypsy Orchestra playing Hungarian and US National An- thems. The featured speakers included General Secretary Grosz, representing the Hungarian government, the Honorable Mark Palmer, US Ambassador to Hungary, the Honorable Charles Cobb, US Undersecretary of Tourism, Sir Edmund Hillary, Harry Reasoner, Arlene Causey (Congress Chairperson), and B. K. Goswami (Director General of Tourism, India).

Although the Congress was “all business:’ there were still a number of seminars that attracted large numbers of attendants. These seminars dealt with interesting topics like “European Deregulation: 1992,” by Tom Hogan, “Developing Group Travel to Eastern Europe,” by Eva Harris, “Legal and Economic Issues in Booking Travel to Europe,” by Rose Hache, “Selling East- ern Europe,” by Gerald Fuller and the Panel on Special’Markets. These papers are printed in proceedings titled, Congress Seminars which can be obtained by writing to the American Society of Travel Agents, PO Box 23992, Washing- ton, DC 20026, USA. The 1989 Congress will be held in Miami, Florida on October 22-28, 1989.00

Submitted 3 February 1989 Accepted 2 1 February 1989

Educating Tourism Professionals and Scholars for the 21st Century

Turgut Var Texas A&M University, USA

The 1989 Recreation, Park and Leisure Studies Department Heads/Chairs Meeting was held in Houston, The Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, on February 22-25, 1989. For the first time, a hotel and restaurant management school hosted this annual meeting, jointly with a recreation and parks department. Department of Recreation and Parks at Texas A&M University and Conrad N. Hilton College should be congratulated for their efforts in bringing over 35 chairmen and deans together to discuss academic needs, opportunities, and responsibili-

438 RESEARCH NOTES AND REPORTS

ties in educating tourism professionals and fostering scholarly opportunities for the next century. A well-defined theme resulted in lively discussions lasting well over the scheduled timetables.

The meeting opened with welcome speeches by Thomas Bonnicksen (Texas A&M University, USA) and Joseph Cioch (University of Houston, USA). The first session dealt with “What is tourism and who is a tourism profession- al?” The starting point was Jafari’s definition of “Tourism is a study of man away from his usual habitat, of the industry which responds to his needs, and of the impacts that both he and the industry have on host community, econom- ic, and physical resources.” Donald Hawkins (George Washington University, USA), in pursuing this theme, stressed the need for a systems approach. The general session led to small group discussions on the same issue. The second task, “What is a tourism professional?” was as challenging as the one on the definition of tourism. Although the group could not agree on a definition of tourism, the participants succeeded in enumerating a variety of terms used by various academic and professional organizations.

It is agreed that for any profession one could identify its birth, youth, and maturity stages. However, the priorities and indications at various stages are different. For example, at birth most of the professional organizations attempt to define their fields, to develop conceptual frameworks, and to differentiate their areas of activity; whereas in the maturity stage, control (i.e., accredita- tion), exclusiveness, and networks become more important priorities.

The afternoon session included representatives from hotel associations, res- taurant associations and private and public tourism organizations as panel members. The main discussion centered on tourism education needs and job prospects for the rest of the century. This session was followed by one on “Reconciling the philosophy of leisure as service with the philosophy of tourism as business: implication for education: which attracted considerable interest from the participants.

David Edgell, (U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration, USA), delivered the luncheon speech, stressing the importance of international tourism as part of US trade in services and goods. The evening work session dealt with accred- itation issues concerning the proposals by National Recreation and Park Asso- ciation (NRPA) and Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Educa- tion (CHRIE) and their implications for curriculum design.

The second day was devoted to “Designing tourism curricula: broad versus specialization, and what should be shared core of knowledge?” A number of course outlines and curricular materials were exchanged by the participants.

The following day’s program included a field trip to the University of Hous- ton in the Clear Lake area where a new theme park is to be located next to Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center of NASA. The trip demonstrated the coop- erative research between Department of Recreation and Parks of Texas A&M University and Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Manage- ment. The afternoon was spent in the renovated Strand area of historical Galveston. A tour of the new $12 million facilities of Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, which will be dedicated in early March, was another feature of field trip.

In summary, the meeting was very fruitful in bringing together tourism related departmental heads, to discuss common problems and to propose solutions or alternatives. The proceedings of the meeting will be available from Thomas Bonnicksen, Department of Recreation and Parks, Texas A&M Uni- versity, College Station, TX 77843-2261.00

Submitted 28 February 1989 Accepted 10 March 1989