Nogueira, Maria José2010-12-072010-12-072008-111647-662Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/349Tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world. English is presently the way to face globalization and to establish a bridge between peoples. A Tourism course should enable its students to become qualified professionals, to be responsible for their work, to develop self-study strategies, without ever forgetting that each one is an individual and has his/her own characteristics. That is why every ESP course should be learner-centered; the world can became a village without every place loosing its singularities. In this article I have made a brief overview of English for Specific Purposes and discussed Needs Analysis. I consider the importance of students possessing soft-skills and I have also presented the most important professional and self-promotion genres, the situational contexts, professional domains for ESP and the special software needs of students of Tourism. I also proposed some basic competences and attitudes the Tourism operator must aim for.porEnglish for Specific PurposesTourismNeeds AnalysisSoft Skillsjournal article