Presentation

Set up in 1961 and then incorporated into the University Paris 1 Panthéon - Sorbonne, the Centre for Advanced Studies in Tourism (CEST) is the oldest place of higher education in tourism in France. In 1989, the statutes were changed and it became the Institute for Research and Advanced Studies in Tourism.

The Board of the Institute is presided over by a professional and includes 20 outside members who are representatives of the biggest tour operators, hoteliers, institutional and local tourist bodies and organisations.

The Institute offers vocational postgraduate degree courses focusing on economics and management: Tourism and Hotel Strategy; and Tourism, Culture and the Environment in Europe. There is also a professional three-year degree in Tourism. In 2003 a new vocational postgraduate degree in the Legal and Tax Aspects of Tourism will be offered. Two thirds of all teaching is done by professionals.

The Institute for Research and Advanced Studies in Tourism is affiliated to the World Tourism Organisation and is one of the 16 members of its network of vocational training centres. It is in this context that it is involved in a distance learning scheme on tourist policy, strategy and management (correspondence courses, Internet, CDROM) and that it offers a postgraduate level university diploma in International Tourism Policy and Economics.

The Institute for Research and Advanced Studies in Tourism is also a member of the National Tourist Council and the National Tourism Audit Commission.