KITTS suggests updates in state’s tourism syllabus

T'puram: Kerala institute of tourism and travel studies (KITTS) will provide its suggestions to revamp tourism syllabus taught at vocational higher secondary schools and other educational institutions. The move aims to update the syllabus in line with changes occurring in tourism field, including the rise in online bookings and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
A curriculum workshop took place in Jan and a faculty development programme was conducted for teachers from schools across the state. A report with suggestions to change the syllabus will be submitted to the govt department, said KITTS director Dileep MR. He also mentioned that it is only a recommendation and the decision to revise the syllabus will be made by govt. If accepted by the board of studies, the curriculum can be revamped in the next academic year.
The training included the use of AI in teaching and research, trends in airline pricing and fare construction and trends in tourism transportation. The move comes because the content taught is considered outdated. Students are still taught city or airport codes, currencies, currency codes, flying time, time zones, maps and the manual building of itineraries. Such information is available online and can be accessed in seconds using mobile phones.
Individual travellers have started using online apps and searches to build international or domestic itineraries by keying in destination names on mobile phones. Experts said that students can be freed from studying such unnecessary information and use the time to learn skills needed to work in the field using modern technology.