Abstract
Hospitality and tourism requires varying degrees of skills that allow for quick entry into the workforce and business for trainees. It is one of the most diversified industries in the world because of the wide number of different occupations and professions involved in it. With increasing change in both the domestic as well as the global market, technology and customer expectations of the industry itself, the requirements of the hospitality and tourism have also undergone significant transformation. With these ever increasing changes in the industry, graduates are expected to possess more than just specialized knowledge and skills, but also the capacity to be proactive and to see and to respond to problems creatively and autonomously. This chapter critically looks at the place of entrepreneurship education within the hospitality and tourism programs in Ethiopia and Kenya. It adopts a qualitative study by way of unstructured interviews and secondary data analysis. It concludes by proposing various strategies to achieve this, notably an outcome-based system and industry-based learning models.
TopIntroduction
Tourism as an economic sector has the potential for higher growth prospects worldwide through economic linkages and multiplier effects. International arrivals, grew exponentially to reach 1.5 billion in 2019 (UNWTO, 2020). According to UNWTO (2011), international tourist arrivals worldwide are expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030. The growth trajectory of the industry has continued to stimulate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for many economies with increased international trade; a boost in international investments; increased infrastructure development among others (World Bank, 2017). The contribution of direct employment in the tourism and travel industry is estimated to grow at an average of 1.9 percent per annum, compared to total employment growth of 1.2 percent each year and predicted to continue through to 2022 (WTTC, 2020).
Since the advent of the first inns and taverns in the 1700s, tourism has grown to the level and need for formal training (Qiu, Dooley & Xie, 2020). Being a highly labor-intensive sector, tourism depends on a well-trained workforce to deliver quality service to clients. With the modern-day client described as sophisticated, dynamic, and highly knowledgeable (Boniface, 2001), the advent of tourism education was to meet the demand for a qualified workforce. However, over the years, and in many countries, there is a lack of sufficient training capacity for the tourism industry (UNCTAD, 2011). In addition, the focus has been on employment rather than on entrepreneurship, leaving the core aspect of decision-making within the sector in the hands of non-professionals who dominate the sector as entrepreneurs and investors. This chapter calls for entrepreneurship education to be at the core of tourism programs.
Knowledge in entrepreneurship would enable tourism graduates to develop dynamism to serve the ever-changing tourism industry. For instance, in Uganda’s Bigondi village, just like in many community-based tourism projects in Kenya, Lepp (2008) noted that despite the available opportunity to cater to the dining needs of the visitors, the residents did not make an effort to take advantage of the existing market. This is a typical example of a lack of entrepreneurial spirit in the sector. With entrepreneurship education, such scenarios could be replaced with a deliberate move of capitalizing on the existing opportunities for the betterment of the sector while appealing to the client (Kihima, 2015).
Over the years, the tourism industry has been characterized by fixation and refusal to change (Boniface, 2001), exemplified by lack of product diversification, dull and unappealing community-based tourism projects, lack of tangible innovation in the sector, and having same itineraries over the years (Kihima, 2014). The inertia exhibited in the sector may be attributed to a lack of entrepreneurship or initiative among the tourism graduates. In most cases, such graduates only fit into the existing structures and models as opposed to coming up with new paradigms that can modernize the sector. The modern-day client who is discerning and looking for in-depth exposure (World Bank, 2010), would adequately be served by a graduate who is entrepreneurial and innovative.
The dynamic nature of tourism is influenced by several change factors. Such include the dynamic human element, sophisticated nature of the client; technological and environmental concerns, and crises within the operating environment among others. This, therefore, calls for a transformative agenda to handle diverse and unexpected scenarios. An example would be the sharing economy platforms in the accommodation and transport sector that opens the traveler or visitor to numerous possibilities while away from home (OECD, 2016). Such dynamism is putting pressure on traditional tourism businesses, hence the need to innovate to maintain competitiveness. The modern challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, also need to be catered for to understand the new consumer and innovatively meet the demand
Key Terms in this Chapter
Learning: Can be defined as a process where individuals receive stimuli and responses that lead to adaptation to the environment.
Entrepreneurship: Is an entrepreneurial process to discover/create a new method, idea, or product. It has the ability and skill to produce something as capital and risk take place.
Skills: Are the capacity or ability of a person, meaning it is the things he can do because he is an expert and has enough knowledge about it.
Tourism: Refers to the act of traveling by a person, going to different places or regions of a country, it is to see the scenic environment, it is said that a person who traveled 50 miles or 80.5 kilometers away from his residence referred as a tourist as per World Tourism Organization.
Education: Is the process of facilitating learning and acquiring knowledge, skills, principles, ethics, beliefs, and attitudes. Educational methods include teaching, training, storytelling, discussion, and face-to-face research.