Tourism Education Not A Priority In Himachal

dark-side-of-th4e-moon1_spitiTourism is a manpower based thrust industry in Himachal given the state’s amazing natural and cultural products. To just have an idea of the potential of this industry one can glimpse into the amazing statistics of the tourism department. Over 80 lakhs tourist coming to the state with about 20% growth every year (source http://scstsenvis.nic.in/tourinflow.html ). It provides employment to thousands of unemployed youth in the state. However in the name of producing qualified tourism professionals our state lags much behind. Our state is only producing a handful ( about 200 qualified professionals annually) through the HP University ( MTA, BTA) , Food Crafts institute at Kufri and three government colleges as against the annual requirement of about 5000 trained graduates in tourism. All this has led to a great deficit of tourism professionals a bridge that’s fulfilled by so called fake management institutes cropping up all over the state, promising jobs to unsuspecting youths looking for employment.

Government had come with the bright idea of starting tourism as a regular subject in 15 district headquarters colleges of Himachal Pradesh seeing the success of the same in Government Degree College Kullu and Dharamsala. The posts were advertised but taken back due to pressures from the private lobby who run these so called tourism institutes. Even after the successful run of tourism degree courses for over 10 years producing quality professionals most of them who stay in Himachal itself, the government has turned a blind eye towards the plea of regularizing posts for lecturers in Kullu and Dharamsala or even advertising the same. . It’s important for the policy makers to see that Education and culture are intimately intertwined, in as much as cultural patterns of a society shape its educational system. It is strange that for a state like Himachal or for that matter the whole of India training and education had for long been synonyms. For this reason most of Indian curricula leans heavily on theories and concepts, sparing lesser scope for ‘industrial training’. In this context, tourism education / training stand out as a classic example in the ensuing conflict between conventional ideology of education and the modern interpretation of vocational training. The inadequate grasp on the tourism ‘phenomenon’ (discipline) and the near absence of tourism ‘industry’ (vocation) has beguiled the promise of tourism studies programmes in India.

Himachal would become one of the first states by following a policy of producing quality tourism professionals by integrating tourism as a subject with other mainstream subjects. An effort towards this has already started by creating 15 posts for tourism lecturers in the college cadre. Tourism education in Himachal is dependent on how serious the leadership of Himachal envisages the future of tourism in the state and takes effective steps in its longevity.

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4 Comments

  1. says: Rajneesh

    Good Insight by the writer, but who will bell these cats (Our Great , Grand , Mahan , Beimaan Politicians Who Develop Tourism Only in Political Speeches And Press releases)

    Gappen Marva lo netaon se…Bhashan Dilwa lo inse tourism pe..”Hamare Pradesh Main Praytan Ki Apaar Sambhwnaye hain.. (Par Hum Kuch Nahi Karenge..)…Humain Himachal Ko Bharat Ka Number 1 Tourist Destination Banana Hai …(Sapne Main Aur Bhashan Main To Bna hee Denge…Nahi to Banana Kha Lenge Bhashan Hajam Karne Ke Liye..)…Sahsik Praytan Main Nai Bulandiyan Haasil karni Hai…(Bundelkhand Ja ke) Himachal Ka Hastshilp Apni Ek Alag Pechaan Rakhta Hai…(Jiski Jaankaari Humain Bhi Nahi Hai)…Khajjiyar Mini Switzerland Hai…(Filhaal To Keechadland Hai..)
    Himachal Main Rope Ways Banainge .. (Kuch Ropes Apne Gale Main Bhi Daal Lena Aur Baaki Nataon Ke Bhi Dalwa Dena..Good For Nothing Brigade.)

    Himachal Tourism Seems Full Of Lazy Employees,, Officers…They Cant make use of any good opportunity, The Mega Star KHALI from Himachal comes here again and again to his natives ..at least in a year..aur hamare mahan neta.. sirf topiyan pehna ke kaam khatam kar dete hain…KHALI has become such a big brand himself INTERNATIONALLY that his presence at any place becomes a news…Just make a dashing video of Khali enjoying Himachal , Shimla..Hills..Temples etc and broadcast it nationwide and see the Impact how much impact it can give.

    Anyone here to read these forums…Knock Knock…I cry louder..I cry Louder …every time i read something on tourism..my BP starts getting disturbed..so dont write any woes of tourism here..or i will write strange comedies of our tourism development…

    So Himachal Ke Bhai Behno.. lets take an Oath “Hum Himachal Ko No 1 Tourism Destination……oopsss”…I was possessed by some politician’s spirit for a while……sorry… 😉

    Just fun friends..some serious issues too, i guess you people enjoy my views …

    Happy new year to all the readers and My Himachal Team 🙂

  2. says: panki

    Good post by Ankit who has himself been teaching sustainable tourism fr the last 10 years to undergraduate students of the Govt. PG College at Kullu. I fully agree with authors insight and as a tourism professional lay stress on the research and development. Also a great idea by Rajneesh using Khali. Adventure Sports and Khali can be a great blend for attracting tourists from abroad.

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