I’m of the opinion that the onus for absorbing and retaining tourism graduates doesn’t lie solely in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries’ courts. I believe that there are three role players in this game: academia, recruitment agencies and industry.

It is often expected that industry should absorb tourism graduates, but the question is whether industry is actually aware of these job-hunting graduates. In a research study I conducted recently, I found that not all sectors of the tourism industry were aware of tertiary tourism courses and the graduates they deliver. So, it seems that graduates are to some extent left to their own devices to find and pursue job opportunities in industry, and sometimes regardless of their preferences for e.g. tour planning or travel consulting – it’s a case of take what you can find and hang on to that job! This might not be the most comfortable and sustainable way to enter industry, let alone the issue of salary. I think graduates are possibly undignified by this experience, leaving them unmotivated and wanting to find something more rewarding in every sense.  

When I lectured tourism full time at a private higher education institution in Cape Town, I headed up my division’s Work-Integrated-Learning (WIL) placement scheme. Over time I built up industry connections and eventually had it relatively easy placing students out into industry. Many of these WIL candidates were offered contracts with their hosts once they graduated. It took many hours of networking, logistical planning and negotiating, though. But, in my experience, WIL is an excellent tool to articulate tourism graduates into industry, provided that it is prioritised. In some instances, though, WIL placement is left to the student to administer. This causes them to scram for any opportunity regardless if it is conducive to building their career – just so that they can complete their WIL component and graduate. Method for failure!

Let us all work together to give our graduates a pleasurable entrance into industry and to grow our beloved tourism industry sustainably.