Enhancing Disaster Literacy in Tourism Education: Evidence for Building Sustainable Societies

The tourism education plays a vital role in training professionals capable of managing the tourism sector, which is directly affected by crises and disasters. This study aims to evaluate the disaster literacy levels of university students and staff in relation to the eleventh Sustainable Development Goal, Sustainable Cities and Communities. In the study, the disaster literacy levels of the participants were compared before and after the disaster literacy and awareness training. The study adopted a quantitative research design and employed the Disaster Literacy Scale as the measurement instrument. The analysis revealed that, prior to the training, the disaster literacy levels of academic and administrative staff were insufficient, while those of students were limited. Following the training, staff members demonstrated limited improvement, whereas students reached a sufficient level. No significant differences were found between participants who had previously experienced a disaster or participated in disaster-related activities and those who had not. Ensuring the continuity of disaster education and providing participants with materials tailored to their characteristics are expected to enhance individual resilience to disasters. Consequently, social resilience will increase, contributing to the development of sustainable cities and societies. The study recommends incorporating a disaster-related course into the curriculum of tourism education conducting disaster drills within the faculty, and developing disaster-resilient hotel and destination projects involving student participation. This research contributes to the literature by comparing pre-and post-training results and grounding its analysis in the goal of sustainable cities and communities.