The UOC is the world's first online university to receive WTO TedQual certification

In the words of Àngels Fitó, dean of the UOC's Economics and Business Studies Department, "we are extremely pleased to have been awarded this certification and, in particular, to have been marked with 8.9, which places us above many brick-and-mortar universities that have also been awarded TedQual. This makes us the world's benchmark university for tourism e-learning."

TedQual is a voluntary certification that seeks to facilitate the continual improvement of tourism education, training and research programmes through the definition of a set of minimum standards of quality for tourism education. Above all, it aims to promote the sector's sustainable development.

The audit carried out to award TedQual assesses aspects such as the coherency of the plan of studies, programme contents, infrastructure and pedagogical support, policies and tools, and support mechanisms for administrative management or the existence of transparent mechanisms for the selection of faculty, among others.

Joan Miquel Gomis, director of the UOC's Tourism programme, explained that "we have been audited with the same criteria and rigor as any brick-and-mortar university and we have obtained excellent results. This represents a guarantee for students who want to study tourism at the UOC. We can offer the same levels of quality and the same learning results as a brick-and-mortar university, as this international certification proves."

Being awarded TedQual certification will allow the UOC to strengthen its links with the international network of associated universities and reach agreements to benefit both students and faculty. With this in mind, Soledad Morales, director of the master's degree in Sustainable Management and Strategies for Tourism Destinations, explained that "TedQual certification will help us strengthen the internationalization process for our master's degree as it opens the doors to research and teaching in conjunction with other universities from the TedQual network. But, what's especially important are the opportunities our students will have to take part in international training projects and to benefit from grants from the WTO."


The bachelor's and master's degrees

The aim of the bachelor's degree in Tourism is to provide professionals with versatile training so that they can cover a wide range of management functions in any public or private institution linked to the tourism sector or start their own business. Over 80% of UOC bachelor's degree in Tourism students are in work when studying, many of them in the tourism sector, and nearly 60% of them have previous university studies. Currently, around 20% of the UOC's students come from vocational training courses.

This bachelor's degree is offered by the UOC's Economics and Business Studies Department and, thus, focuses closely on tourism businesses. But territorial aspects (territorial resources, tourism site planning, etc.) are also fundamental. Both the methods and the materials are highly practical and always focus on three clear concepts: sustainability, innovation and ICTs.

In turn, the master's degree in Sustainable Management and Strategies for Tourism Destinations is designed to contribute to improving tourism through knowledge and to meet current tourism needs from an interdisciplinary, integral and international perspective. The WTO, as a UN specialized agency, collaborates with the UOC on this programme to create tools and knowledge, and to train professionals committed to making tourism a professional activity with great added value while serving development and sustainability.