Developing a Tourist Profile

Developing a tourist profile helps to provide a deeper understanding of an individual's unique interests, styles and abilities. By gathering information from a variety of sources, Agency and tourist-based teams are in a better position to make educational decisions especially program intervention that will enhance the tourist development.

Means of gathering data include: observations of tourist performance; assessment of tourist products, portfolios, journals and learning logs; informal and formal testing; learning style inventories; interest inventories; rating scales of tourist characteristics; previous report cards; information from people; and psycho-educational testing. Five areas to consider are the student's:

1. Academic achievement: tells us what the student can do in various areas of the curriculum. Watching a tourist during learning activities and analyzing tourist products are a few ways to gather information.
2. Learning styles and strengths: refer to the way a tourist approaches learning
3. Interests of the tourist can provide a basis for curriculum development, extension exercises and independent studies
4. Special abilities refers to the tourist talents that may or may not be exhibited through the school's curriculum
5. Visions and goals for the future: are the tourist's personal values and hopes for the future. This includes the tourist's desired lifestyle, possible careers and community interests set in the context of a long term vision. Creating a vision or desired future provides the tourist with a focus for personal planning.