Employability development in Higher Education institutions: a tourism student perspective (original) (raw)

Tourism is the world‟s largest and fastest-growing industry. The South African tourism industry (TI) contributes to the creation of employment (National Department of Tourism (NDT) 2011), and the development and growth of the country‟s economy. Yet, the South African TI experiences a critical skills shortage. This results from the fact that many tourism graduates do not possess the skills required by the world of work. Put another way, tourism graduates are not adequately prepared for absorption in the tourism industry. This, in turn, prevents them from participating effectively in the tourism industry. As Fallows and Steven (2000) put it, the knowledge of an academic subject is no longer enough in today‟s challenging work environment; as such, it is important for graduates to develop skills that will increase their chances of finding employment. In light of the above, it is imperative for higher educational institutions to include the development of employability skills in their to...