Beyond employability: why tourism education matters

Tourism education matters not only because it prepares graduates for employment, but because it plays a formative role in shaping the values, assumptions, and decision-making frameworks that influence how tourism systems are understood, governed, and transformed. Tourism education is critical for cultivating systems thinking, ethical awareness, and sensitivity to social and spatial justice. This paper critiques the dominance of employability-driven motives within tourism education and suggests its reframing as a subject that focuses on purpose, ethics, and social and spatial justice. By situating tourism education as a critical space for systems thinking, ethical reflection, and engagement with power and inequality, the paper contributes to ongoing debates about the societal role of tourism education and its capacity to support sustainable and equitable tourism futures. The paper highlights the implications for tourism educators, curriculum design, and future research, calling for greater attention to justice-oriented dimensions within tourism education.