Analysis for the Curricular Design of Tourism Studies in the Dominican Republic: Competences and Professional Profiles to Enable the Prospective Development of the Tourism

This paper presents a research project launched by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Dominican Republic in 2011 with the aim of drawing up a formal and methodological basis that is used as a guideline to redefine the Bachelor's Degree in Tourism. The main strategic lines of action derived from two essential requirements: the need to cater for a wider range of professional profiles and the need for curricular touristification. On the one hand, the focus was on the development of the graduates' competences in all the cognitive areas involved in tourism to enable them to set up and manage tourist companies, products and destinations. This would generate innovative options of economic revitalization, decentralizing the current focus on the hospitality industry and incorporating new professional contexts with growth potential in the Dominican tourism sector. On the other hand, tourism-related subjects were reinforced and close cooperation with professionals on active service was highly recommended. Given the heterogeneity of current and potential local tourist destinations, the idiosyncrasy of each regional educational setting was taken into account to encourage entrepreneurship by empowering future managers of small and medium sized companies to make the most of their resources.