November 20, 2015
On November 20, 2015, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Department of Travel Business, Kharkiv Palace hotel hosted the VII International Research-to-Practice Conference Travel Business: World Trends and National Priorities.
The Dean of the School of International Economic Relations and Travel Busines, Vadym Sidorov, welcomed those present and expressed gratitude to A. P. Holikov, V. V. Aleksandrov, V. S. Bakirov, O. O. Liubitseva, who made a great contribution to the establishment of the Department at the time.
The Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation of Kharkiv City Counci,l Mariia Kozareva, pointed out that despite a small jubilee the Department had already displayed major achievements. The staff of the Department was awarded a commendation of the City Mayor for high professionalism, training of highly-skilled specialists, and a significant contribution to the travel industry of Kharkiv.
The Head of the Department of Travel Business A. Yu. Parfinenko thanked the Director of the University Publishing House I. M. Donchyk for high quality of printing products of the School and made a report, which outlined the preconditions and stages of the development of tourismological discourse in the world, the emergence of the study of tourism in Ukraine. Having received its independence, the need of representing the tourism potential of the country on the international market arose as one of the conditions of the country’s integration into the global economy. Today, Karazin University is the only higher educational institution, where tourism education is represented under a separate School. The reporter noted the advantages of studying at the School of International Economic Relations and Travel Business, including the obatining of a qualification of escort interpreter by graduates, the introduction of training programs under “Hotel and Catering Business” and “Area Studies”, areas of scientists’ research of the Department, conduction of conferences and round tables, expert consulting work, participation in urban and nationwide projects, internships of students abroad and so on. “Organizational establishment of the Department is synchronized with the time of disciplinary establishment of tourismological knowledge in Ukraine and its integration into the European educational space. 10 years are only a moment for the University, but they have become a bright page of its history,” emphasized Mr. Parfinenko.
Professor A. P Holikov told the history of establishing the Department, the Head of the Department of Area Studies and Tourism of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, O. O Liubitsev, and the Head of the Department of Management of Foreign Economic Policy and Tourism of Kharkiv State University of Food Technology and Trade, L. M. Yatsun, welcomed its representatives and students on the holiday, and also told about the prospects of gastronomy and festival tourism in Kharkiv.
“Tourism is not work, it is a way of life and a sense of life,” noted the alumni of the Department, and now employers for current students Khrystyna Popova(travel company Safari Tour, a member of the Travel Board under the Kharkiv City Mayor) and Serhii Mykhailets (Society of travel agencies). “A diploma of Karazin University is a license to search for a job, my diploma gave me an opportunity to work in the international company and do my favourite thing,” emphasized the alumna of the Department, Mariia Kozareva.
During the conference, the participants discussed the national interests and priorities of the countries in tourism, international integration and globalized processes in tourism, area studies and regional issues of international tourism, the peculiarities of the development of international and national market of tourism services, current trends of developing the hotel and catering business, problems of improving the tourism infrastructure, etc.