UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF GIS AMONG STUDENTS OF TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Tourism, as extremely complex phenomenon, is closely tied to geographical space. The implication of the use of GIS in tourism can be significant. The main applications of GIS are mapping, measurement, monitoring, modeling and management. In these main areas there are lot of influences of heterogeneous tourist activities. So far, the applications of GIS in tourism have been limited. The problem largely lies in the lack of GIS education among tourism managers, since tourism oriented curriculums, in most cases, do not include GIS course. This paper aims to examine the knowledge and understanding the importance of GIS concept among students of tourism management. In order to point out the necessity of GIS being part of tourism curriculums, the authors have determinate a prior knowledge and understanding of GIS among students that did not attend GIS course. An online questionnaire was used as an instrument for the study. The main part of the questionnaire was designed to give answers in student's familiarization with GIS software and brands, main areas and types of the use of GIS and the students' opinions on the necessity of GIS within their curriculum. The study came to conclusion that students understand the importance of GIS in tourism, even without high level to knowledge of GIS. The majority of students believe that GIS should be part of their tourism management curriculum.