Patterns of Tourism and Hospitality Education in India and Malaysia: A Critical Reflection

Abstract

This chapter presents a comparative analysis of tourism higher education in India and Malaysia, two developing countries located in Asia. Based on an extensive review of literature and in light of the experiences of the authors as tourism educators in the countries selected for this study, the trends of past, present and future development, curriculum design, pedagogical innovations, popular demand for tourism and hospitality programmes, industry-academia gaps and government higher education policies are analysed. The chapter also examines public versus private institution-led tourism education in terms of differences in policy, faculty expertise and the scope of their activities. Finally, the socio-political, socio-economic and government ideology influences on tourism and hospitality education in these countries are discussed. While tourism education in India needs a boost in terms of professionalism and market orientation, Malaysian tourism education suffers from the overemphasis of these very same things – an extreme focus on employment can lead to the neglect of some of the exalted ideals that should be part of the objectives of a university education.