The topic of whether tourism should remain a standalone subject in schools or whether it should be embedded into other subjects was recently debated on Tourism Update. In my comment on the forum I suggested that tourism should most certainly remain a standalone subject. Furthermore, I suggested that keeping it as standalone subject could be one way of promoting tourism as a legitimate and credible economic sector.

In my opinion, the tourism CAPS has more than enough academic weight and scope to stand alone. I disagree with Gillian Saunders in her view that tourism should be embedded into other curricula such as business studies, accounting and geography. In my understanding, this means untangling the tourism curriculum and dividing it amongst many other subject curricula where found applicable. I think this would severely hurt the morale of tourism in all its contexts. In fact, it would discount all tourism teachers’ positions in South Africa. How is that for taking one step backwards?

It is indeed an elective subject and yes, it is a ‘soft’ subject due to its nature as service industry, but in my opinion, the latter is exactly the X-factor that should promote tourism. Learners should be allowed to choose tourism out of their own interest. I understand that being an elective could relegate tourism to ‘an easy option’ status, and I have heard learners speak of tourism in this fashion, but in my opinion the aim is not to boost tourism’s social or political status as subject. The aim of academia (teachers included) is to educate learners at schools on the economic potential of tourism as a service industry that promotes our country, its history, resources, heritage and diversity. I do agree to some extent with Prof Berendien Lubbe that tourism should be linked to other subjects such as history and geography, as tourism latches on to selected content in those subjects in terms of its development as an economic sector. I’m not saying tourism should be promoted as core subject, because not all learners have an interest in the dynamics of the industry, and it isn’t an essential vocational skill in the way that mathematics or language literacy are. But I do believe that learners should be taught about the possibilities for entrepreneurship that exist within the tourism sector and other related economic sectors such as hospitality.

I support Martin Wiest in that tourism should be taught by knowledgeable, skilled teachers. In my SD: Tourism curriculum I focus specifically on developing apprentice tourism teachers and lecturers’ subject-related knowledge in order to teach with authority and to transfer their knowledge and skills in a sustainable manner. I also incorporate aspects such as curriculum enhancement and career counselling to open my students’ eyes to the bigger picture surrounding the tourism sector.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not being biased towards tourism as I am quite aware of job shortages in our country, for both tourism teacher graduates and tourism diploma/degree graduates. I lecture tourism, marketing, customer service and other subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate level at various institutions in and around Cape Town and am often asked about job security in tourism by numerous students. I’m not going to untangle the whole debate around academic throughput and job creation here. Essentially, I believe there is a future for school leavers and tourism graduates alike if they understand that hard work and perseverance will – over time – be rewarded with at least some degree of success. 

This brings me to my last point. Leaners should be taught to interpret, understand, think critically and analytically (Bloom’s taxonomy applies here) and to create and develop ideas and concepts. They can no longer rely on government to create jobs – just look at the damage that government’s poor cross-departmental communication and non-integrative planning caused the tourism industry lately. Learners should be inspired by passionate, skilled, visionary teachers to become entrepreneurial in their approach to studies and work. And that is where my passion lies…where teaching and learning become every South African’s lifelong journey toward creating a sustainable living for themselves and those around them.