An unprecedented outbreak of the novel coronavirus has left the tourism and hospitality trade affected worldwide. Even the Tourism dependent-businesses have been effect badly due to this pandemic.
As the sector is redressing with the easing of curfews and restrictions, institutes that supply programs on hospitality and tourism are upgrading their curriculum to attract students. Dr. Sanjay Modi who is govt dean, school of enterprise and arts, Lovely Professional University stated that “We are planning to add a course on ‘Ayurveda food combinations’ to the curriculum of our hotel management program as people are increasingly becoming immunity conscious,”.
He also added the college launched BBA in Airlines and Airport Management from the present educational session. “Due to the pandemic, people are becoming more inclined towards air travel than any other mode of transport because of the concerns around social distancing and hygiene. Hence, we feel it will lead to more job creation in this sector,”. The jobs in the aviation sector as people are now more conscious about social distancing and hygiene.
Indian School of Hospitality launched its postgraduate program in Service Operations Management last year in the middle of the pandemic. “We are adding more elective, specialization options into the postgraduate program keeping the Covid-19 phase in mind,” said Kunal Vasudeva, COO, and founder of, Indian School of Hospitality. He added that the pandemic and the resulting fragility of the situation have made students and parents closely analyze their future choices.
Dr M Sajnani, director of Amity Institute of Travel and Tourism in Noida said they are restructuring their curriculum to meet the current needs, and introducing courses on digital marketing of tourism-related products and services, emerging destinations management, destinations safety and protocols etc. “Besides, we believe that short courses can further skill our students.
Therefore, we will introduce certificate courses in tour guiding, a wildlife guide, heritage guide, the short-term course in wildlife appreciation and naturalism, and in heritage and cultural appreciation,” he said.
Some institutes like Amity Institute of Travel and Tourism have seen a dip in the applications last year. “Through short-term courses, we are preparing students to be industry-ready,” Dr Sajnani added.
While the 2020 batch got fewer job offers, the hospitality institutes claim the situation is improving. ISH predicts “they will see 25-30 per cent students get into the startup space”.
Sajnani said the companies will expect new graduates to understand concepts like responsible travel, sustainability skills, etc. “Since these are unprecedented times, freshers will learn how to deal with extraordinary situations and they will witness and contribute to this changing lifestyle and help in setting new industry trends,” he said.
Hotel management colleges are restructuring their curriculum to meet the current needs, and introducing courses on digital marketing of tourism-related products and services, emerging destinations management, destinations safety, and protocols, etc.
