Formation of professional competence in the sphere of tourism by means of project activity

The economic efficiency of the tourism and hotel business depends on a set of factors including the professional competence of employees. Professional competence reflects the ability and willingness to use existing knowledge, skills in practical work, forming a model of an employee who is able to solve problems in the chosen field of activity and demonstrate the effectiveness of his work. It is implemented in a specific way of carrying out the productive activities of the enterprise and is formed in the process of studying at a university, the process of project activities including. The aim of the paper is to find the potential of project activities in the professional competence formation in the field of tourism and hospitality and give recommendations for its improvement. As a result of the study, the structure of professional competence in the field of project activities was determined, including knowledge, experience, values, emotional-volitional regulation and readiness for activity. The main professional skills related to the formation of professional competence of Bachelors Degree in tourism and hospitality, necessary for the effective solution of complex problems in the chosen field of activity, were identified. They are associated with the development of systemic, critical, flexible, creative thinking, design thinking and emotional intelligence. As a result of a survey conducted on the basis of Petrozavodsk State University and Leningrad State University named after. A.S. Pushkin, it was revealed that graduates of the tourism department during their studies have the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in the field of project activities, they form a readiness to develop and implement projects, implement a value-semantic approach and the ability to regulate emotional and volitional qualities. To organize effective project activities in the educational process of the university, the authors highlighted recommendations aimed at using various forms of project activities that combine individual, pair, group and collective projects; the use of innovative educational formats, including interaction with the practices of the tourism and hotel business; purposeful work on a clear development of the stages of project work; the use of various forms of project presentation: power point presentations, videos, websites, scientific articles, with the preparation of technological and technical documentation and demonstration of the project in the form of a master class. The proposed recommendations for working on projects are aimed at developing the professional competence of specialists in the field of tourism and hospitality and will be useful in the practical educational activities of the university.