The Hindu Business Line : Tourism MBA in God's Own Country

It is not often that B-school projects end up as products offered to consumers. But for the Thiruvananthapuram-based Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS), that's exactly what has happened — two projects done by the institute's students have been developed into tourism products.

The projects were part of the PG Diploma in Business Administration - Travel and Tourism, offered by the institute, says G. Chandramohan, Director, KITTS. One such project that evolved into a tourism product is a `walking tour' of the city's heritage Fort area. Called `Fortunes of Travancore', the two-hour tour introduces visitors to the history and culture of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore. The tour was launched by Kerala Tourism in September 2004 and has generated some interest among foreign tourists.

More recently, another student project has been turned into a `spice tourism' product that has educational and leisure components. The leisure component is a tour package involving visits to spice plantations and spice processing facilities in the State. The educational component, offered in association with the Agricultural University, will offer participants a three-week introduction of Kerala's spice industry. Several universities from outside India have expressed interest in sending students for the training programme, says Chandramohan. In fact, students from the University of Delaware are scheduled to experience the `spice tourism' offering next year, he adds.

KITTS, which is managed by the State Government, began offering tourism and travel-related courses in 1988, but it was only in 2000 that the institute started the PG Diploma. This two-year programme is like any other course offered by any other B-school, but the difference is that it focuses on preparing students for the tourism and travel industry, explains Chandramohan. So, while students receive a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of management in their core papers, the electives are mostly devoted to subjects of relevance to the travel and tourism sectors.

Efforts are also being made to turn the PG diploma into a full-fledged MBA Travel and Tourism course recognised by a university in Kerala. While the All India Council for Technical Education has approved an MBA at KITTS, the process of getting the course recognised by a university is on, says Chandramohan. However, the travel and tourism industry is "happy" with the calibre of the students graduating from KITTS, he says. The number of campus placements is increasing every year, and many recruiters are from outside the State, says Chandramohan.

The institute is also initiating measures to encourage tourism research and consultancy. By the year-end, an international centre for eco-tourism development will be started. This centre, which is being set up with participation from several international tourism experts, will offer eco-tourism training programmes, conduct tourism research and possibly even take up consultancy projects. The eco-tourism centre, which will be based at the KITTS campus in Thiruvananthapuram, is expected to become a resource centre for the South Asian region.