Introduction: Reimagining hospitality education: a multidisciplinary framework for future readiness

Labor shortages, skill deficiencies and persistent needs for training and retraining continue to affect service quality, operational viability and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry as of 2025. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) reports that nearly 467,000 direct jobs were created in the last 4 years since the pandemic; however, 65% of hotels experienced labor shortages and 71% expressed difficulties in hiring for open positions despite active recruitment efforts. The AHLA's report stated that the hospitality industry had the highest quit rates of all sectors.World Travel and Tourism Council's (WTTC) Future of the Travel and Tourism Workforce report states that the travel and tourism industry faces a workforce shortage of more than forty-three million jobs by 2035. The Future of Job Survey identified 63% of employers cited skill gap, as the greatest obstacle to their business transformation over the period 2025–2030; it was also discovered that around 22% of the world's jobs will be affected by this changing job market in the next five years. Therefore, it is crucial to address the emerging skill gap in the tourism and hospitality industry. The Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council (THSC), which represents the sector, reports the demand and skill gap and estimates that around 5.7 million youth will need to be trained to meet the incremental labor demand of three million workers projected between 2025 and 2028. As a result of the increasing need for up-skilling and re-skilling of the workforce and addressing the challenges of low wages and work-life balance, it is becoming increasingly important for those in higher education to reflect on how they can better prepare and equip future-ready graduates.The Ministry of Education has created a formal partnership between the industry and academia. Through this initiative, the leading global hospitality brands in India (Taj Hotels, Marriott International and the Radisson Group) will offer training and mentorship to students at 21 government hotel management schools. The partnership will bring together hospitality brands that will focus on areas where both the industry and academia have similar interests and goals and can collaborate to support joint training programs, curriculum development and mentoring aligned with industry expectations. The benefits of this collaborative effort may include enhanced employability, industry-aligned curricula and a future-ready workforce.In the WTTC's Future of the Travel & Tourism Workforce Report, the sector is anticipated to create 91 million new jobs around the world, and the report notes that the hospitality industry is expected to experience an 18% staffing shortage, noting that jobs requiring human-to-human interaction and services cannot be easily automated and will remain in-demand. The report also notes that there will be significant role transformations in the industry due to structural changes, such as a decline in working-age populations versus economic growth. The challenge for educators and policymakers is to develop the skills needed by the industry, as well as to find ways to make teaching and learning more relevant, effective and forward-thinking. The chapter offers practical recommendations for educators and policymakers to address the complexities of sustainability in hospitality education through a multilateral framework for future readiness.The Future of the Hospitality Industry, after growing to $4.9 trillion in 2024, by Forbes, highlighted the need for competency-based education in hospitality. The article noted that the vision of the hospitality industry for 2034 would be focused on sustainability, business ethics, AI-enabled services and people-centric work cultures. There is a visible shift identified in the hospitality industry, and only academic knowledge will no longer be sufficient for the industry to utilize the future skill needs for developing future-ready hospitality graduates. To what extent does the hospitality industry need to adjust the upcoming skill requirements to develop graduates aligned with new industry paradigms?Stylianou and Pericleous (2025) expressed concern about the current levels of digital and technical literacy among hospitality graduates. They reported that through their most recent research, they found that hospitality graduates do not have sufficient hands-on/practical experience with industry-specific software, such as Opera, Fidelio, Booking.com and Expedia. However, the authors also found that hospitality graduates did demonstrate basic digital skills, such as Microsoft Office (Excel, Word and PowerPoint), email platforms and video conferencing tools (Zoom and Skype), but the curricula for hospitality education programs lack the provision of practical experience with industry-specific software. It is vital to understand the curriculum and pedagogical changes required to bridge the gap between academic groundwork and industry expectations in technology and sustainability. The hospitality industry is now focusing more on technology-driven and sustainability-focused approaches and, therefore, is requiring corresponding changes in educational approaches. Recognizing the importance of future-ready workforce for addressing the global challenges in the hospitality industry, Hussain et al. (2026) seek to identify the necessary adaptive skills and competencies required in the hospitality workforce and how hospitality education can be evolved using innovative technologies to create alignment with industry needs. This study adopts workforce readiness theory (WRT) to enhance the understanding and implementation of essential skills, knowledge and attitudes in the hospitality industry and to train its workforce for upcoming challenges.Rich (2025) revealed that the global fintech market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 25.18%, reaching USD 1583.05 billion by 2033, up from USD 209.74 billion as of this year (2024). The reason for such an increase in fintech's influence is that more businesses are looking for new ways to provide innovative financial services to their customers, which will lead to fintech being used across all industries, including the hotel/hospitality industry. Hotelier India states why hospitality students must develop their financial skills so that they may deliver service excellence and contribute to the business success of their employer, create budgets and analyze returns on investment (ROIs). Financial management is the backbone of all successful businesses, and therefore, the hospitality industry will need solid financial strategies to sustain itself during times of economic downturns. Mehta and Chaudhary (2026) researched the fit of the courses relating to finance competency in hospitality management degree programs to the competency demanded by industry practitioners to identify gaps in curricula and propose strategies for incorporating industry-relevant financial skills into hospitality education.An Economic Times article, Trends in 2025: Redefining Hospitality Business Education stated that hospitality business education would go through a significant change in 2025. According to the Economic Times article, there will be two options for hospitality education in 2025. The first option will include a greater emphasis on hands-on experience for students. The second option will include a more liberal approach to hospitality education using a multidisciplinary model. Economic Times also reported on a study conducted by Oyster Link, a hospitality job site, which confirmed that a significant shift had taken place in hospitality education in 2025.Jain and Saxena (2026) researched the need for hospitality education to include project-based examples of real-world applications, innovative teaching methods and experiential learning opportunities to enhance the relevance and application of hospitality education. The study suggested utilizing the Maha Kumbh 2025 as a benchmark case study for learners to understand how the connections between classroom knowledge and experiential learning can occur in event management and hospitality.Change is constant within the hospitality sector and hospitality professionals are required to possess both cognitive skills and technical skills to effectively perform in today's dynamic hospitality industry environment. Giousmpasoglou and Pantelidis (2023) have identified several innovative skills, change champions, adaptability, flexibility, communication, problem-solving, analytical thinking and critical thinking as some of the top skills required among successful hospitality professionals. Carville (2026) highlighted how good learning and development practices play a significant role in managing business during the tough, turbulence and changing business environment. The author listed problem solving, creativity, employee engagement, leadership development, accountability setting and continuous learning and development as some key skills for successful hospitality professionals.As per the latest article by Travel and Tour World (2026), social media nowadays has a dramatic impact on the international tourist market, changing what tourists want to see and where they want to go. The article highlights six of the most popular countries based on trends that have gone viral and had a surge in visitors. The article also highlighted that TikTok has undeniably altered the landscape of global tourism. The influence of viral videos and influencer marketing has made destinations more accessible and appealing. However, this new era of digital tourism comes with significant challenges, particularly concerning overtourism, infrastructure strain and environmental impacts. Recognizing that industry must innovate to facilitate a different model for how travel is marketed, what are the long-term effects for countries and their local communities? The study conducted by Bhatnagar and Shah (2026) probed that social media is both a strategic asset and an innovation catalyst for the hospitality and tourism sectors. They also discuss the role of social media in developing participative experiences by promoting long-term development in an interconnected digital world.The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), in collaboration with the CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC), initiated a dedicated program to cover the critical gap in legal knowledge within the hospitality industry. The program is not only about understanding legal frameworks, but it also empowers the hoteliers to understand legal risk early, make a smarter choice, avoid consequences and align better with global standards. This and similar initiatives prompt other questions such as: How interdisciplinary collaborations of law and hospitality have expanded the scope of hospitality education? What emerging initiatives have been adopted by the Indian hospitality industry to integrate legal and psychological fields/aspects in the hospitality curriculum?Aggarwal and Komal (2026) explore how interdisciplinary collaborations of law and hospitality have expanded the opportunity of employability, innovation and intellectual diversity. The study highlights the importance of integrating interdisciplinary perspectives into hospitality education to equip future professionals with legal knowledge. Another study by Joshi et al. (2026) proposed integration of legal and psychology fields to address the challenges associated with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the hospitality industry.The inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce is important for the benefits of the economy, industry and society. It is estimated that 1.3 billion people or 16% of the world's population have experienced some degree of significant disability (World Health Organization, 2023) and, therefore, represent the world's largest minority group. However, currently only four percent of all businesses offer their products and services inclusive of disabilities. This has led to the exclusion of many people with disabilities from being considered potential customers and denied employment opportunities, and the current unemployment rate for people with disabilities is at least 50% lower than those without disabilities. People with disabilities often face discrimination in employment, promotional opportunities and compensation offered at the workplace (World Economic Forum, n.d.).Gahlot (2026) offers an approach for sustainable and meaningful change by addressing the integration of accessibility and inclusion within human resource development in the hospitality sector. The study addresses the need to educate inclusion as a skill within professional education/training rather than simply as a policy issue. Giousmpasoglou and Pantelidis (2025) suggested in their research that there should be a balance maintained between the theoretical and academic inputs into hospitality education programs.The current staffing shortage in the hospitality industry can be identified with two major factors: (1) high rates of employee turnover and (2) changing customer requirements and expectations in the labor market. Additionally, the ongoing staffing shortages have been further complicated by a continued gap in skills in critical areas including service quality, financial literacy, digital literacy and management preparedness. Therefore, it is apparent that resolving the staffing shortages will require more than merely recruiting enough people to fill vacant positions; therefore, solutions that address the root causes of the problem are required. One emerging strategic solution to this problem is to have education providers and employers in the industry come together to develop solutions that reduce the gaps in the skills that graduates possess versus the expectations from the workforce. Hospitality education must be developed on a multi-discipline basis to effectively provide students with the knowledge base to meet the changing needs of the hospitality industry and to eliminate the ongoing skill deficit gap present in today's industry. The most significant issues are lack of education concerning emerging hospitality technologies, lack of education concerning personal and business finances, competency and experience-based learning and the incorporation of business and experiential learning into hospitality education, especially in event planning and hospitality operations.The increased demand for students to have digital and sustainability-based skills further emphasizes the need for students to participate in hands-on training and education with industry-specific software and real-world applications. Additionally, as employees in the hospitality industry require competencies, including but not limited to creativity, problem solving, employee empowerment and engagement, leadership development, accountability and continuing education, to work in ever-changing service environments, the use of social media has become a critical multi-discipline area, which is dramatically changing how guests interact with hospitality organizations through their ability to create participatory engagement and build long-term value through an interconnected digital environment. Another important issue facing hospitality educators is striking a balance between meeting regulatory requirements, maintaining organizational culture and ensuring employee well-being. Therefore, hospitality education should incorporate both legal and psychological perspectives into its curricula to support the implementation of DEI strategies and the complex nature of human behavior in service environments.Finally, preparing workforce readiness in hospitality education must include disability inclusion and accessibility as core professional competencies rather than peripheral policy issues. Individuals with disabilities encounter a high degree of employment and career advancement discrimination, according to the World Economic Forum; therefore, hospitality education must develop inclusive practices and accessibility awareness as part of its training models.Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach, utilizing elements of management, technology, finance, law, psychology, sustainability and social sciences, is necessary to equip future hospitality professionals with the skills and adaptability required to address the current and future challenges of the hospitality industry and contribute to the overall success of organizations and society at large.