Relevance is the response capacity that higher education institutions have in face of the demands of society regarding the solution of urgent problems through the training of professionals. The objective of the work was to present a proposal for a methodological guide for the study of social relevance in training of professionals for tourism. Based on the comparative research method, two institutions of public higher education in the state of Quintana Roo, México, were considered in which the empirical approach was carried out. In the first part, the research statement is presented; the second part warns about the theoretical framework. In the third part, the methodological guide is described in a well-founded manner. The last part presents the conclusions of the paper as final thoughts. An opportunity is evident from the comparative research that contributes in the assessment processes of the proposals of professional training in tourism by the institutions of higher education.