ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY EDUCATION: CASE OF INDONESIA

Tourism and hospitality industry in Indonesia proves its significant growth year by year. To be competitive, the industry strives for qualified human resources who are not only knowledgeable and skillful but also to be creative in both functional and behavioral level as the labor will always engage in the consumer contact. This triggers the gap between industry’s expectation and tourism and hospitality education providers since most of vocational education organizations in Indonesia deliver irrelevant curriculum which does not suit to the real world. A number of papers highlighted the issue of close collaboration between both parties in attempt to reduce this curriculum gap however, little has been reported successful. The study aims to reveal the importance of higher education to be more service-minded, flexible, adaptable, and relevant in the curriculum development to provide a qualified and creative industrial talent while at the same time preparing more professional and qualified educators. Recommendation and further studies are discussed as well