Press Release: Department of Tourism and Travel Management, Central University of Jammu organized a two- day International webinar on 15-16 May, 2020 on the theme “Effectiveness of Vocational Education in Tourism at School and Undergraduate Level: State of the Art”.

Department of Tourism and Travel Management, Central University of Jammu organized a two- day International webinar on 15-16 May, 2020 under the luminary guidance of Prof. Ashok Aima, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu. This webinar was organized under the Major research project of ICSSR entitled“Creating Skill Landscape of Human Capital Through Vocational Education in Tourism at School and Undergraduate Level: Challenges and Opportunities in the Context of Himachal Pradesh (India)”.The webinar was centered around the theme “Effectiveness of Vocational Education in Tourism at School and Undergraduate Level: State of the Art”.

The second day session started by paying tribute to Dr. Dharmendra Singh, Head & Associate Professor, Department of Mass Communication and New Media, Central University of Jammu who succumbed to COVID-19.

While, the sub-theme for the day one i.e.,15^th May, 2021 was “Tourism Education vis-à-vis Industry Expectations”. The webinar was attended by the professors, faculty, research scholars, vocational trainers, students from different universities and colleges,schools and colleges from all over the country. Among the panelists were leading academicians from abroad and stalwarts of Indian tourism industry. In the list of speakers from academia, there were professors like Dr. Claudia Seabra from University of Coimbra, Portugal, Dr. YankiHartijasti from Universitas Indonesia and Dr. Jeetesh Kumar from Taylor’s University, Malaysia while on the industrial front there were speakers from different verticals like Mr. Vineet Mahendru, Chief operating Officer, Travel corporation of India, Mr. Hemant Gulati, General Manager, Airport Operations, IGI Airport, New Delhi and Mr. Ankit Sood, Expert Ecotourism Planner, Principal consultant tourism to Government of Tripura. Event on 15^th May started with the formal welcome of panelists and attendees by Prof. Jaya Bhasin, Dean, School of Business Studies and Head, Department of Tourism and Travel Management, Central University of Jammu followed by the highly edifying inaugural address by the hon’ble chief guest Prof. Ashok Aima. First in the schedule of panelists was the keynote speaker, Dr. Claudia Seabra who highlighted about the tourism industry before and after COVID-19 and the role of education in meeting the challenges. Second speaker Dr. YankiHartijasti beautifully explained the link between Education and Industry. Third in the sequence, Dr, Jeetesh Kumar presented some of the key teaching and training techniques that he employs in his classroom to improve the learning outcome of tourism students. Heading towards panelists from industry, Mr. Vineet Mahendru delivered his striking ideas on some industry relevant skill sets requisite for the service professional in 21^st century. Subsequently, Mr. Hemant Gulati uncovered the industry outlook for tourism professional in the post corona world. Thereafter, Mr. Ankit Sood expounded the Sustainable way of making Vocational Tourism Education (Tourism) at School and Undergraduate Level effective and Holistic. Finally, the first day of the event ended with the Q&A round and the formal vote of thanks presented by Mr. Rahul Thakur, Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism and Travel Management, Central University of Jammu. 

In continuation to the webinar, the sub theme for the day two was “ROLE OF TEACHERS AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES IN SHAPING SUSTAINABLE CAREER FOR THE VOCATIONAL (TOURISM) STUDENTS”. The panelist in the second day of the webinar were bureaucrats and leading Indian academicians. Among the panelists were most renowned personalities like Prof. Raj Nehru, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Shri Vishwakarma Skill University Haryana, Mr. Vinod Zutshi, IAS, former secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Mr. Ravi Ranjan Chaudhary, Executive Vice President, YES Bank, Prof. Sunil Kumar Kabia, Director, IQAC, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi and Mr. Naveen Sharma, state coordinator, Himachal Pradesh Skill Development Corporation. Event began with the welcome address by Prof. Jaya Bhasin and presidential remarks by Prof. Ashok Aima. The hon’ble chief guest of the event, Prof. Raj Nehru unveiled the Role of HEI’s (Higher Education Institutes) to streamline the Vocational Education at College and School Level.Theguest of honour, Mr. Vinod Zutshi, delivered remarkable ideas on Rebuilding Vocational Education to reinforce Tourism Skill Landscape of India. Address by keynote speaker, Mr. Ravi Ranjan Chaudhary was focused on the Role of innovation and technology in creating skilled landscape of human capital for tourism industry. Another keynote speaker, Prof. Sunil Kumar Kabiahad deliberations on enhancing the employability of tourism graduates in India. Finally, the special guest Mr. Naveen Sharma, delineated several key Challenges and opportunities in the context of vocational education. Ultimately, the event concluded with Q&A round followed by Vote of thanks from Dr. Amit Gangotia, Sr. Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism and Travel Management, Central University of Jammu. The entire session for both the days was moderated by Mr. Ketan Bhatt, Research Associate, Major Research Project, ICSSR, Central University of Jammu.