TEDU25 Transforming Tourism and Hospitality through Education

The Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor announces the International scientific conference "Transforming Tourism and Hospitality through Education" (TEDU25) in Brežice, Slovenia, on May 14–16, 2025.

The conference will host renowned keynote speakers:

• Professor John Tribe (York St John University & University of Surrey, United Kingdom)
• Professor Hazel Tucker (University of Otago, New Zealand)
• Professor Adele Ladkin (Bournemouth University, United Kingdom) 

Themes of the Tourism Education Conference

Technological advancements, climate change, health crises, political instability, changing travelling behaviours, and evolving workforce expectations have in recent years influenced and transformed tourism and hospitality in different ways. This trend will only continue in the future. This places an important onus on tourism and hospitality higher education to develop leaders who can navigate the complexities of tourism and hospitality. Arguably, this requires a sort of tourism and hospitality education that balances vocational and liberal education and puts purposefulness, mindfulness, and ethics at the forefront. 

However, at the same time, higher education in tourism and hospitality has and will continue to face challenges that can inhibit the potential for institutions to provide such an education. Central to this, higher education institutions find themselves needing to address industry and societal needs whilst increasingly facing neoliberal pressures that force institutions to focus on narrow, individual employability/business needs. Within this neoliberal higher education context, institutions are pushed towards being more market-oriented, entrepreneurial, flexible and frictionless. 

Green competencies, digital skills, lifelong learning

Thus, tourism and hospitality higher education are yet again at a crossroads. In this context, institutions must attend to industry and societal needs, evolving workforce expectations, and national and international policies for green transition. Green competencies, digital skills, lifelong learning (e.g., the shift toward microcredentials), and impactful knowledge transfer have become the core of designing new curricula. Yet, the fast pace of transitions and implementations makes tourism education follow suit without the time for considerate reflection on the impact on learners and educators. We seek to stimulate critical debate on current trends in tourism education, and we wish to explore the fundamental question of the future of tourism education. 

What are the synergies between tourism and hospitality education and industry? Does tourism and hospitality education have a future? How is tourism and hospitality education being transformed through microcredentials? Are we, as educators, capable of envisioning, designing and implementing curricula for future leadership with transformative powers that will not succumb to neoliberal practices? We aim to critically explore the current state of tourism and hospitality education and address key issues such as: Sustainable education: How can the interdependence of social, economic and ecological well-being lead to transformative learning? Future and green tourism competencies: What knowledge, skills and competencies will be essential for the future of the tourism industry? How are the green and sustainable values embedded in tourism curricula, syllabi and learning outcomes to promote tourism’s ethical and responsible development? 

Purposeful and meaningful tourism and hospitality education: What is the role of tourism education in today’s world? Does it serve a meaningful purpose? How should tourism curricula evolve to meet future demands? Microcredentials in tourism: What are the practices, the experiences, and the critical considerations for using microcredentials in tourism education? How do microcredentials shape lifelong learning in the tourism industry? How do microcredentials enhance educational theory in tourism and hospitality? 

Tourism Knowledge Ecosystems

What are the opportunities and challenges of knowledge transfer and co-creating curricula with the industry? What is the role of public, private, and civil sectors in tourism in designing and delivering tourism education programs? New technologies and skills: How are new learning modes, such as online education, reshaping tourism education? How are emerging technologies transforming the knowledge, skills and competencies needed in the tourism industry? Is the tourism and hospitality workforce ready for upskilling?

CONFERENCE VENUE

 

Terme Čatež Conference Centre

Address	Topliška cesta 35, 8250 Brežice
Telephone	+386 (0)7 49 36 700
E-mail	mice@terme-catez.si
Website	terme-catez.si

The Conference Centre of the Terme Čatež spa offer a variety of events, according to the needs and wishes of its clients. Years of experience and numerous business and social events are our reference. Congresses can be organized in one of seven halls of the Hotel Terme****, Hotel Toplice**** and Hotel Čatež***.  A multi-use hall can take up to 900 people. The fact that the Terme Čatež spa offers additional activities encourages many conference -organizers to return.