The Tourism Education Futures Initiative (TEFI): Activating Change in Tourism Education

The Tourism Education Futures Initiative (TEFI) seeks to provide vision, knowledge, and a framework for tourism education programs that promote global citizenship and optimism for a better world. This article provides background on TEFI, its inception, its development and its future. The article argues that a fundamental shift in tourism education is necessary to respond to global challenges impacting tourism at a fundamental level. These shifts demand higher levels of responsibility and stewardship by graduates and industry leaders. TEFI attempts to address the complexity and diversity of the shifts required by educational institutions and industry. TEFI's work began by defining a set of foundational values for tourism education programs worldwide (stewardship, ethics, knowledge, mutuality, professionalism). TEFI is now addressing other important shifts needed to provide an education of quality and relevance to tomorrow's tourism industry.