Tourism Education in India

Abstract

One of the most significant earners of foreign exchange earnings is travel and tourism, which creates millions of jobs both directly and indirectly through a variety of service sectors. Government tourism offices, immigration and customs services, travel agencies, airlines, tour operators, and hotels are a few of the service sectors that fall under this category. Tourism education is very important to boost this sector. The primary focus of a profession in the travel and tourism sector is on serving clients who are traveling for leisure, business, or both. It involves determining the needs of travelers and businessmen and assisting them in selecting the finest travel options from the many options available.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

The research, teaching, and other human interactions that maintain, advance, and disseminate tourist knowledge to society make up the sub-system of tourism education, which is a co-constitutive component of the tourism system. Despite the fact that many of these interactions take place on a local level, Robertson (1995) describes them as occurring in a complex environment. One of the main sub-sector of the complex tourism exercise that displays the impact on the tourism industry is what is known as tourism education. This impact may be directly or indirectly.

A. Indian Scenario of Tourism Education

The Indian tourism industry includes a segment called tourist management that deals with travel and lodging issues as well as tourism education in India. Travel and tourism are now a fast expanding industry that employs both skilled and unskilled workers in significant numbers. This sector is a significant driver of GDP growth in India. The volume of both local and foreign traffic is increasing daily. Undergraduate Travel & Tourism courses are available through University Grants Commission in a variety of formats, including Bachelor of Travel & Tourism Management (B.T.T.M), Bachelor of Tourism Studies (B.T.S), and Bachelor of Business Administration in (Tourism & Hospitality Management), among others.Additionally, a number of universities offer programs such the MBA in Tourism, MTA, and MTTM. Some private institutions offer certificate, diploma, and degree programs as well. The National Action Plan for Tourism, unveiled in May 1992, encouraged the development of tourism education in India.

B. Global Scenario of Tourism Education

One of the biggest and fastest growing sectors in the global economy is projected to be tourism. As a result, it needs careful planning and growth; otherwise, the community may suffer (Mill and Morrison, 1985; Gunn, 1988; Inskeep, 1991; World Tourism Organization, 2004). In simple terms, successful tourist planning and development may guide a community's development while safeguarding its priceless resources for both economic and societal success. "In this context, the design and content of tourism education systems are subject to strong pressures from the environment around it, since the human factor has become one of the key elements in achieving competitiveness in tourism enterprises and destinations," the World Tourism Organization (2004) states in its report. Both Gunn (1998) and The World Tourism Organization (2004) released cautions that present higher education in tourism is not able to satisfy the demands of aspiring tourism professionals.

C. Courses offered in Indian Tourism Educational Institutions

1. D.T.H.M. - Diploma Course
2. D.T.T.M. – Diploma Course
3. D.T.M. - Diploma Course
4. C.C.T.S. – Certificate Course
5. C.C.T.M. - Certificate Course
6. B.T.S. - Bachelor Course
7. B.C.A. – Bachelor Course
8. BTTM – Bachelor Course
9. B. Com in Tourism-Bachelor Course
10. B. Sc. in Tourism - Bachelor Course
11. M.T.A. – Master Course
12. M.B.A. - Master Course
13. M. Com in Tourism - Master Course
14. M. Sc. In Tourism - Master Course
15. P.G.D.T.T. - Master Course
16. P.G.P.T. – Master Course
17. M.T.T.M. - Master Course
18. M.A.T.M. - Master Course
19. BHMCT- Bachelor Course
20. CMTH-CertificateCourse

D. Indian Tourism Education Institutions Provide Master's Degrees in Subjects Related to Travel and Tourism.

1. Tourism Principles and Practices
2. Tourism Product (Cultural & Natural)
3. Tourism Business (Travel Agency & Tour Operation)
4. Tourism Policy &Planning
5. Tourism Law and Ethics
6. Transportation Management
7. Hospitality Management
8. Management Principles
9. Marketing Principles
10. Financial Management
11. Research Methodology
12. Sustainable & Eco Tourism
13. Geography of Tourism
14. E-Tourism
15. Economics of Tourism
16. Entrepreneurship Management
17. Destination Marketing
18. Information Communication Technology
19. Foreign Language (English; French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Italian etc.)
20. History and Culture

II. CHALLENGES AND ISSUES IN TOURISM  EDUCATION IN INDIA

Following content evaluates of tourism curriculum and personal observation, several difficulties in tourism education have come to light. Interaction with them also raised a few other problems, including the following: Skilled workers with a specialized degree or diploma in tourism courses are in short supply in the travel and tourism business. There is no mandatory curriculum in India for degree or diploma programs in tourism. Every college and university has its own unique course syllabus or curriculum. As a result, Indian tourism education simply creates trained workers, not competent managers or successful business people. The majority of universities and colleges have not updated their curricula in a few years, and they are made to place more emphasis on theoretical knowledge than on knowledge and experience gained via practical application. Most students do not prioritize taking courses in tourism management. The emerging trends and problems are not being taught in tourism colleges.  The majority of institutions lack specialist programs including those for guides and scouts, hotel management, freight management, and airline ticketing. Most universities lack fully fledged departments with a focus on tourism. The salaries given by the tourist sector are significantly less than those of other sectors. When it comes to management education, students continue to choose General MBA or another MBA as their top choices, which shows that tourism courses have not been well-marketed and lack the capacity to sell. Different colleges and institutions' faculties have come to terms with the fact that they are enrolled in mediocre and subpar pupils.

The fact that the best students choose MBA programs while the others choose tourism or other programs suggests that the tourist sector struggles to draw in qualified applicants.  According to students taking tourism courses, the curriculum lacks a practical orientation and places too little emphasis on soft skills. There are just a few guest professors with professional expertise available.

There are very few institutes or universities available for research and development in tourism and travel education.

Conclusion

As tourism promoting country we have to associate ourselves with such educational universities and take their guidance to re-organize our educational curriculum based on that expert and researched inputs and adopt to Indian scenario to the optimum level possible. Tourism education has to create a frame work for a value-based tourism curriculum that will be relevant and effective to meet the new challenges of the tourism industry.

References

[1] Airey, D., & Tribe, J. (Eds.). (2006). An international handbook of tourism education. Routledge. [2] Ayikoru, M., Tribe, J., & Airey, D. (2009). Reading tourism education: Neoliberalism unveiled. Annals of Tourism Research, 36(2), 191-221. [3] Cooper, C. & Shepherd, R. (1997). The Relationship Between Tourism Education and The Tourism Industry: Implications for Tourism Education, Tourism Recreation Research, 22(1), [4] Cooper, C. (2002). Human resources in tourism: standard creation in tourism education and training-GTAT. Spain: The World Tourism Organisation. [5] Dewey, J. (1966). Democracy and education (1916). Middle Works Bd, 9. [6] Evans, N. (2001). The development and positioning of business-related university tourism education: [7] Singh, S. K., Mishra, J. K., & Rao, V. K. (2017). Tourism Education in India: Current issues & challenges. CRPTH conference, Pondicherry University, India. (pp. 188-194) [8] Singh, S. K., Mishra, J. K., & Rao, V. K. (2018). A Study on the Application of System Approach in Tourism Education with respect to Quality and Excellence. International Research Journal in Business and Management. 11(12) (pp.07-17) [9] World Tourism Organization (2002). The Key Role of Education in the New Age of Tourism. TedQual, 36-37. [10] World Tourism Organization. (1988). Guidelines for the transfer of new technologies in the field of tourism.Madrid, Spain: Author. [11] Zais, R. S. (1976). Curriculum: Principles and foundations. Ty Crowell Company.

Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Dr. Abdul Majeed. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.