Leadership for transformation in tourism education

Abstract

In light of ever greater financial and philosophical attacks on tourism higher education across the world, it is critical to contemplate the role of tourism education at university level and its place in modern societies. This need for reflection is given urgency by increasingly neoliberal education policies, market-driven universities, and ‘consumers’ with distinctive demands that are able to choose from a growing variety of educational ‘products’. Often relegated to an area of specialization within business studies, tourism is increasingly under pressure to demonstrate its value, which is commonly interpreted as producing graduates with industry-ready skills and good immediate job prospects. This focus has led to tourism higher education that seeks to cater to industry needs and is fundamentally vocational. In doing so it is at the mercy of an industry that still largely subscribes to the dream of the self-made leader/entrepreneur, who emerges in a senior managerial position at the end of a career path that starts with washing dishes and/or cleaning toilets, rather than actively promoting and rewarding formal education. This lack of appreciation and support from the industry it seeks to serve presents significant challenges for tourism higher education. Additionally, tourism is also exposed to challenges from within the academy where the above outlined image can lead to tourism programs being looked down upon by other programs and where it is ultimately vulnerable to restructuring and cost cutting measures. However, despite of these profound challenges we believe that tourism higher education delivers a unique and valuable contribution to higher education and that there is thus an urgent need for tourism academics to critically reflect on the status quo, and subsequently act as advocates and agents for transformation of tourism education and research in the academy.