Opportunities and Challenges in Event Tourism Education

Events are often viewed as tourist attractions. Therefore, small or large, all the destinations are in search for organizing local, national, or sometimes international events. In this sense, Turkey has an abundant potential for the event tourism thanks to its heritage and, natural and cultural resources. However, this potential is not well benefited since the organized events are mostly small in scale, local, or short in duration due to lack of appropriate planning and management. Events such as celebrations, festivals, fairs, and feasts are an indispensable part of cultural production and consumption. The event can also be defined as the systematic planning, development, and marketing of a number of activities as a touristic attraction and image-building for the natural and physical resources in the cities where it is organized (Getz, 1997). On the other hand, opportunities and challenges in event tourism education need to be well defined. Thus, students who want to work and make a career in event tourism can be guided easily. For instance, although more than 1600 events take place in Turkey per year, it is observed that there are not enough courses in the curriculum of tourism departments students within the scope of event tourism. However, the effect of event tourism can be strong in ensuring local development and in the career development of students. With the training of conscious students, this will provide positive developments for sustainable tourism and the development of local community. Thus with this chapter is aimed to identify and exploit the opportunities in event tourism industry for the students in the future and career growth, event tourism strategy in the curriculum. © 2024 by Apple Academic Press, Inc.