The Department of Tourism and Hotel Management was awarded national accreditation by the Tourism Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation Council (TURAK) and became a member of the Institut Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance.
The process of preparing for TURAK accreditation recognized by Turkey’s Higher Education Council lasted a year, culminating in a visit by the evaluation team last December. The evaluation involved faculty, staff, students, graduates, employers and administrators. The department received its accreditation, affirming the quality of the education it provides, based on the high standards of its program, its commitment to continuous improvement, its academic faculty, its facilities, its relations with industry and the involvement and achievements of its graduates.
Also in 2020, the department became a member of the Institut Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance. The institute, an international school of culinary arts and hospitality and food service management, established the Alliance in 2004; today, it includes 20 partner schools and universities in 20 countries on four continents. Each year, students of Alliance members have the opportunity to attend a 14-week summer program at the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France.
The department was established in 1988, in accordance with the vision of university founder İhsan Doğramacı regarding the importance of tourism for Turkey. Bilkent University thereby became the first private institution of higher education in the country to provide instruction in this field.
The department offers a BSc degree in Tourism and Hotel Management designed to prepare its graduates for managerial positions in the industry by combining management courses with tourism- and hospitality-related subjects such as hotel operations and food and beverage service. Since its establishment, the department has graduated more than 3,900 students. It has also twice been recognized as the “Best in Tourism Education” in Turkey by the Association of Travel and Tourism Professionals International.