My teaching areas:

1. Introductory and general tourism courses: Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism Industry; Travel and Tourism management; Seminar on Tourism.

2. Hospitality, tourism and services marketing: Hospitality and Tourism Marketing; Tourism Sales; Services Marketing and Management; Destination Marketing and Management; Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in Hospitality and Tourism; Strategic Marketing in Hospitality and Tourism.

3. General marketing and business courses: Principles of Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Management; International Marketing; Marketing Theory; Customer Relationship Management (CRM); Social Media Marketing; International Business; Advertising Management and Creativity.

4. Research methodology courses: Marketing Research, Hospitality and Tourism Research Methods; Research Methods for Business; Advanced Research Methods in Marketing.

Details on my most recent courses can be found under the teaching menu item on this web site.

My Teaching Philosophy

There are six pillars of my teaching philosophy.

1) Education by mentorship: In education, focus should be on individual student. Every student should be discovered with his/her motivations and learning skills. This may sound a hard task. But, despite challenges, this task has to be conducted willingly and properly by each professor for successful education. If proper communication is established with the student, then, teaching and learning go functionally.

2) Multitask learning: For business studies, there are three main aspects of learning in school: listening, reading and writing. Many schools give students a chance to practice what they learn in school as well through school practice facilities and/or summer or in-semester internships (i.e. German dual system). Every student should learn through exercising all these functions adequately during his/her education. Most of the time, college education goes by lecturing and asking students to read the chapters and related course material. But, at the minimum, every student should be involved in some kind of a project or a written exercise like essays, research reports, powerpoint presentations to produce something from himself or herself. This is especially true for social science students. Semester projects in groups with well-identified task allocations, individual presentations, case write-ups and other tasks are part of this approach. I use this approach well in courses even in large size classrooms.

3) Good communication with students during lectures: Every education practice includes some kind of lecturing. Considering patience levels of young generations, today’s lectures have to be well-prepared, short and concise, interesting and eye-catching. For this; good preparation (simplified and well-prepared chapter materials), use of technology, and good time management in classroom are necessary.

4) Using up to date teaching materials: All teaching materials should reflect what is real in daily life including textbooks, supplementary teaching materials, case studies etc. unless past literature is needed for specific purposes. Working with publishing houses is necessary since these companies develop updated and technology-based teaching materials that can assist teachers and students with the state of the art tools and systems.

5) Use of technology in classroom: Today, using online platforms or technological solutions (use of videos, simulations, ERP programs, other visual technological aids) to give students a chance to observe and practice real world examples is necessary for influential education. Younger generations adopt current technology fast, therefore, effective use of technology in teaching is a must today.

6) Off-campus activities: I arrange at least one site visit with my students to get hands on experience in the field. Such practices have great effects on students to observe real world activities and remember theoretical concepts with a fun exercise.