A Constructive Alignment Approach for Assessing Essential Cultural Soft Skills in Tourism

The aim of this study is to identify the ‘Essential 21stC Cultural’ knowledge and skills for the Maltese hospitality industry. Once identified, it would be possible to define clear Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO's) which will be incorporated into the undergraduate curriculum at the Institute of Tourism, Travel and Culture at the University of Malta. By ‘aligning’ tasks and other activities to the ILO's students would be able to achieve clearly defined levels of cultural knowledge and skills. Finally, a cultural competence theoretical framework will be developed in order to enable academic staff in this field to be able assess the level acquired for a given skill and accredit it.