TİKA Supports Vocational Training in Tourism in Azerbaijan

The “Training on Current Approaches to Tourism Education” was held in Baku by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Türkiye, and State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Training on Current Approaches to Tourism Education, which is the introduction module of TİKA’s Tourism Education Program (TUREP), was attended by the teachers, instructors, and administrators of vocational high schools and schools of higher education of tourism in Azerbaijan, instructors of Azerbaijan Tourism and Management University, and specialists working at State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Held in Azerbaijan after Tunisia, Uzbekistan, and the Gambia, the 5-day training module included the training courses “An Overview of Current Approaches to Tourism Education, and Vision for Education for 2023,” “An Overview of Vocational Training in Tourism in Türkiye,” “Tourism Education Practices in Some European Countries,” “Alternative Tourism,” “Types of Tourism in Türkiye,” “On-the-Job Training Model Implemented in Türkiye,” and “Schools of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Türkiye,” all of which were taught by Ersümer Eren, Principal of Falez Vocational and Technical High School in Antalya, affiliated with the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Türkiye, and İsa Keleş and Ali Gökhan Öztürk, teachers from the same school.

At the opening ceremony of the training program, speeches were delivered by Assoc. Prof. Cahit Bağcı, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Baku; Fatih Yılmaz, TİKA’s Coordinator in Baku; Dr. Nihat Büyükbaş, Education Counselor at the Turkish Embassy in Baku; Kenan Qasımov, Undersecretary of State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Ersümer Eren, Principal of Falez Vocational and Technical High School in Antalya.

In his speech, Ambassador Bağcı stated that TİKA has become one of the most dominant institutions in humanitarian diplomacy and was one of the strongest pillars of the bridges between Türkiye and the countries with which it cooperates. Reminding of the major successful projects implemented by TİKA in Azerbaijan, Bağcı said, “Türkiye is ready to share its expertise in any field with Azerbaijan. With its public and private experience, it is ready for cooperation in Azerbaijan.”

Fatih Yılmaz, TİKA’s Program Coordinator in Baku, noted that TİKA has been operating in Azerbaijan for nearly 30 years in order to further improve the close relations and cooperation between Türkiye and Azerbaijan in line with the principle of “one nation, two states,” and that the Agency has carried out many projects and activities in this sister country in order to improve vocational training in tourism and ensure human resources development in the tourism industry. He added that the project TUREP was a continuation of the activities carried out by TİKA in this context. 

The training program ended with the certificate presentation ceremony. In the second phase of the project, the “Advanced Training of Trainers on Food and Beverage, Accommodation, and Travel Services in Tourism” will be held in Antalya in March 2022.