Zeitschrift für Tourismusforschung und Gastgewerbe

Editorial – Perspectives to implementing threshold learning outcomes in tourism, hospitality and events education

Naomi F. Dale

The conversation between tourism, hospitality and events scholars, educators and practitioners around quality assurance and standards in education is not a particularly new one; however allocated thresholds for some have only recently become a hot topic. Since the turn of the last century, the changing nature of higher education in terms of increasing participation and a more diverse student population coupled with the pressure of adopting one form or another of a national qualification framework, have led to the definition of learning outcomes at various degree levels. Such outcomes-based learning and teaching (OBLT) was accompanied by quality assurance systems that ensured not only equivalency and consistency but also accountability. This shift in perspective is necessary if these standards are to be transformative for the learner, unlikely to be forgotten or irreversible and revealing of pre-piously unnoticed interrelatedness among bodies of knowledge and disciplines. Editorial – Perspectives to implementing threshold learning outcomes in tourism, hospitality and events education.