Abstract
This research was motivated by recent developments in the provision of tourism higher education in Brazil and by the author’s experience as a lecturer in that country. The existing models of quality management in tourism higher education are critiqued and a focus on the student voice on quality is advocated as an alternative. The following research question was the starting point for the study: What is quality in tourism higher education and how can it be improved according to the students’ voices? It aimed at identifying the most important elements of quality for a positive student experience and uncovering suggestions on how to enhance them based on the students’ own voices. However, as the research progressed, another important issue emerged - how teachers and institutions deal with the student voice on quality. This issue was addressed through the analysis of the student as a stakeholder within the context of quality in tourism higher education. As such, the key concepts investigated were: tourism higher education, quality and student voice. The main aim was to fill in a gap in the literature and to provide a critique of quality in tourism higher education in Brazil based on the voice of students, how lecturers respond to those voices and the existing literature and models. To do so, 53 undergraduate Brazilian students took part in focus group interviews. The data was analysed through the categorisation of major themes and sub-themes. After that, teachers were interviewed in order to investigate how they deal with the student voice on quality and to identify their responses to specific issues raised by their students. The results were categorised using a pre-defined structure used during the data collection process. The results of both elements of fieldwork are linked back to the key concepts discussed on the literature review to produce a critique of quality in tourism higher education in Brazil. Two main contributions to knowledge emerged from this study: first, a critique of the existing traditions of quality management in tourism higher education; second, new dimensions and perspectives on quality in tourism higher education in Brazil based on the student voice and on lecturers’ responses to those voices.