International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Systems

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Tourism Education in India: A Supply-Demand Gap


Affiliations
1 Research Scholar, Institute of Vocational (Tourism) Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
2 Institute of Vocational (Tourism) Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


In the present time, tourism education has become a highly demanded discipline as a professionally-oriented course. The aim of this work is to determine the status of tourism education in India and to find out the lacuna between tourism educations, and the essential skills/ knowledge required by tourism industry from tourism graduates. This study attempts to investigate the perception of both ‘tourism academicians’ and ‘industry professionals’ about the nature of tourism education in India and assess if they feel same or differently about the quality of tourism education being imparted in the country. The study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted on 129 academic respondents and 129 travel trade professionals. The results suggest that as per academic respondents, the tourism institutions are providing ‘moderate’ tourism education. However, the industry professionals are of an opposite view and believe that amongst tourism graduates being produced, there is a ‘considerable lack in knowledge and skills’ required by the industry. The study suggests that tourism education in India can be strengthened through integration between the tourism course curriculum and required orientation in skill enhancement as desired by the industry. Since tourism is one of the keystone in generating revenue and employment, the industry requires a good number of graduates with significant academic merit and requisite trade skills to solve tourism management problems and run the industry. The areas identified for improvement in tourism education include, introduction of specialization courses in tourism and hospitality, improving digital skills, communication skills and strengthening of linkages of academia-industry collaboration among others. The study also suggests that the creation of an Indian Tourism Service (ITS) Cadre, on the lines of Administrative Services, catalyst to enhance the quality of tourism education being provided by institutions..

Keywords

Tourism Education, Essential Skills, Supply-demand Gap
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Airey, D., & Johnson, S. (1999). The content of tourism degree courses in the UK. Tourism Management, 20, 229-235.

  • Bagri, S., & Babu, A. (2011) Historical development of tourism education in India: The case of the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Journal of Tourism, 12(1), 39-59.

  • Belhassen, Y., & Caton, K. (2011). On the need for critical pedagogy in tourism education. Tourism Management, 32(6), 1389-1396.

  • Bodewes, T. G. (1981). Development of advanced tourism studies in Holland. Annals of Tourism Research, 8(1), 35-51.

  • Butler, R. W. (2001). Seasonality in tourism: Issues and implications. In S. Page (Ed.) Advances in Tourism Research Series, Elsevier: Oxford.

  • Careers in the tourism industry. Retrieved March 11, 2016, from https://www.bcjobs.ca/blog/careers-in-the-tourism-industry/

  • Cervera-Taulet, A., & Ruiz-Molina, M. E. (2008). Tourism education: A strategic analysis model. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 7(2), 59-70.

  • Charlton, E. (2019). These are the world’s best MBAs, according to The Economist. Retrieved November 20, 2019, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/mba-top-harvard-chicago-paris-business-education-career/

  • Cooper, C., & Shepherd, R. (1997). The relationship between tourism education and the tourism industry: Implications for tourism education. Tourism Recreation Research, 22(1), 34-47.

  • Dwyer, L. (2015) Globalization of tourism: Drivers and outcomes. Tourism Recreation Research, 40(3), 326-339.

  • Egypt to host official world tourism day celebrations. Retrieved July 9, 2018, from https://www.unwto.org/archive/global/press-release/2011-08-11/egypt-host-official-world-tourism-day-celebrations

  • Global talent trends and issues for the travel & tourism sector. Retrieved November 12, 2019, from https://www.wttc.org/-/media/382bb1e90c374262bc951226a6618201.ashx

  • Grimm, I. J., Alcântara, L., & Sampaio, C. A. C. (2018). Tourism under climate change scenarios: Impacts, possibilities, and challenges. Revista Brasileira de Pesquisa em Turismo, 12(3), 1-22.

  • History. Retrieved January 22, 2018, from http://www.cvs.edu.in/his

  • Inui, Y., Wheeler, D., & Lankford, S. (2006). Rethinking tourism education: What should schools teach? Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 5(2), 25-35.

  • Knowledge-Based Economy. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2019, from https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6864

  • Malihah, E., & Setiyorini, H. P. D. (2014, October 21). Tourism education and edu-tourism development: Sustainable tourism development perspective in education. Paper Presented at the 1st International seminar on tourism “Eco-resort and destination sustainability: Planning, impact, and development”. Universitas Pendidikan, Indonesia.

  • McKercher, B. (2002). The future of tourism education: An Australian scenario? Tourism and Hospitality Research, 3(3), 199-210.

  • Mexico and Burkina Faso official hosts of world tourism day 2014 and 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2017, from https://unwto.org/archive/global/press-release/2013-08-29/mexico-and-burkina-faso-official-hosts-world-tourism-day-2014-and-2015

  • Official celebration of world tourism day 2018 - tourism and the digital transformation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2019, from https://unwto.org/europe/event/official-celebration-world-tourism-day-2018-tourism-and-digital-transformation

  • Patel, J. (2018). WTTC forecasts India to add 10 million tourism jobs by 2028. Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://www.travelnewsdigest.in/2018/03/wttc-fore casts-india-add-10-million-tourism-jobs-2028/

  • Pavesic, D. (1993). Hospitality education 2005: Curriculum and programmatic trends. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 17, 285-294.

  • Shah, V. B. (2008). A study on wage differential in the tourism industry. Asia Pacific Institute of Advanced Research, 15(1), 184-194.

  • Sheldon, B., Fesenmaier, D., Woeber, K., Cooper, C., & Antonioli, M. (2008). Tourism education futures, 2010-2030: Building the capacity to lead. Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism, 7(3), 61-68.

  • Sheldon, P., Fesenmaier, D., & Tribe, J. (2011). The tourism education futures initiative (TEFI): Activating change in tourism education. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 11(1), 2-23.

  • Singh, S., & Singh, S. (2006). International tourism education: India. In D. Airey & J. Tribe (Eds.) International Handbook of Tourism Education. Elsevier: Oxford.

  • Smith, G., & Cooper, C. (2000). Competitive approaches to tourism and hospitality curriculum design. Journal of Travel Research, 39, 90-95.

  • Sofique, M. A. (2013). Tourism education in India: Challenges and opportunities in the global context. In D. D. Gupta (Ed.) Tourism in Global Village. LAMBERT Academic Publishing: Saarbrucken.

  • Spain to host world tourism day 2012 under the theme tourism and sustainable energy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2016, from https://unwto.org/archive/global/press-release/2012-03-08/spain-host-world-tourism-day-2012-under-theme-tourism-and-sustainable-energ

  • Statement on tourism and employment. (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2017, from https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_162290/lang--en/index.htm

  • Stergiou, D. P., & Airey, D. (2018). Tourism education and industry expectations in Greece: (re) minding the gap. In P. Benckendorff & A. Zehrer (Eds.) Handbook of Teaching and Learning in Tourism. Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham.

  • Sutherland, W., & Jarrahi, M. H. (2018). The sharing economy and digital platforms: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Information Management, 43, 328-341.

  • Thailand and Qatar official hosts of world tourism day 2016 and 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017, from https://unwto.org/archive/global/press-release/2015-10-02/thailand-and-qatar-official-hosts-world-tourism-day-2016-and-2017

  • The effects of technology on tourism. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://www.tourism-review.com/impact-of-modern-technology-on-tourism-news11024

  • Tourism and Jobs: A better future for all. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://unwto.org/world-tourism-day

  • Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2016, https://www.unwto.org/archive/global/press-release/2013-06-03/world-tourism-day-2013-promoting-tourism-s-role-water-preservation

  • Tourist Statistics. (2019). 10.6 million foreign tourists arrive in India 2018-19 compared to 10.4 million in 2017-18. Retrieved November 1, 2019, from https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1577036

  • Travel and tourism economic impact. (2019). Retrieved November 12, 2019, from https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-research/regions-2019/world2019.pdf

  • Urry, J., & Larsen, J. (2011). The tourist gaze 3.0 (3rd ed., p. 17). Sage, Los Angeles.

  • Wan, Y. K., & Chan, S. H. J. (2013). Casino employees’ perceptions of their quality of work life. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 34, 348-358.

  • Wang, J., Ayres, H., & Huyton, J. (2010). Is tourism education meeting the needs of the Industry? An Australian case study. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 22(1), 8-14.

  • Wattanacharoensil, W. (2014) Tourism curriculum in a global perspective: Past, present and future. International Education Studies, 7(1), 9-20.

  • Xing, B., & Marwala, T. (2018). Implications of the fourth industrial age for higher education. The Thinker, 73(3), 10-15.

  • Yeoman, I., & Butterfield, S. (2011). Tourism and demography: An overview. In I. Yeoman, C. H. C. Hsu, K. A. Smith & S. Watson (Eds.) Tourism and Demography, Goodfellow Publishers: Oxford.

  • Zagaroni, F. (2009). Balancing tourism education and training. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28, 2-9.


Abstract Views: 104

PDF Views: 0




  • Tourism Education in India: A Supply-Demand Gap

Abstract Views: 104  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Rajinder Kumar
Research Scholar, Institute of Vocational (Tourism) Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
Sonia Khan
Institute of Vocational (Tourism) Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract


In the present time, tourism education has become a highly demanded discipline as a professionally-oriented course. The aim of this work is to determine the status of tourism education in India and to find out the lacuna between tourism educations, and the essential skills/ knowledge required by tourism industry from tourism graduates. This study attempts to investigate the perception of both ‘tourism academicians’ and ‘industry professionals’ about the nature of tourism education in India and assess if they feel same or differently about the quality of tourism education being imparted in the country. The study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted on 129 academic respondents and 129 travel trade professionals. The results suggest that as per academic respondents, the tourism institutions are providing ‘moderate’ tourism education. However, the industry professionals are of an opposite view and believe that amongst tourism graduates being produced, there is a ‘considerable lack in knowledge and skills’ required by the industry. The study suggests that tourism education in India can be strengthened through integration between the tourism course curriculum and required orientation in skill enhancement as desired by the industry. Since tourism is one of the keystone in generating revenue and employment, the industry requires a good number of graduates with significant academic merit and requisite trade skills to solve tourism management problems and run the industry. The areas identified for improvement in tourism education include, introduction of specialization courses in tourism and hospitality, improving digital skills, communication skills and strengthening of linkages of academia-industry collaboration among others. The study also suggests that the creation of an Indian Tourism Service (ITS) Cadre, on the lines of Administrative Services, catalyst to enhance the quality of tourism education being provided by institutions..

Keywords


Tourism Education, Essential Skills, Supply-demand Gap

References