Reflecting on 25 years of Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism

This article celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism (JTTT), by reflecting on the authors seminal 2008 paper which remains the most cited article in the journal’s 25th year history. The article reflects on the 18 years since this paper was written, identifying if the industry has changed in the past two decades. Whilst steps have been made to encourage graduates to join the industry and reduce attrition rates for new graduates, the industry is still facing major challenges in recruiting and retaining graduates with tourism and hospitality qualifications. Despite the industry recovering from the 2020 pandemic to again reach new heights of tourism participation globally, recent literature highlights that the key findings of the 2008 article, including poor retention rates, unstructured work experiences, low pay and poor working conditions, and graduate anxiety, remain concerns for today’s graduates of tourism and hospitality programmes.