Away from the chaos and the clamour of the city, the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS), an autonomous institute under the Department of Tourism established in 1988 at Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram, has been carving its niche in the travel tourism industry both inside and outside the country by consistently providing travel and tourism professionals to the industry.

Though the students from the institute have been working in various parts of the world, this is the first time in the campus recruitment drive of the KITTS that seven MBA Travel and Tourism students got placed in foreign countries, including European nations like Georgia and Armenia, said Dileep M. R., Director, KITTS.

The placement is a remarkable achievement that demonstrates the institution’s ability to equip its students with the global skills and knowledge needed to tap into the ever-expanding international tourism job market, he added. Around 200-225 students have been passing out each year from the institute, which offers a postgraduate programme in MBA Travel and Tourism, two BBA programmes, two PG diploma and three diploma courses.

90% placements

Among the courses, the postgraduate course has 90% direct campus placements. Appu George Cheriya, 28, a native of Kottyam who received a placement in Georgia, said he would be leaving for Georgia by next month. Preparing for the last and fourth semester exam this month, he said he has been appointed as a tour guide at a private company in Georgia where he has to deal with tourists from all parts of the world.

Haleema, a BBA student who was campus recruited and placed at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport as a terminal executive, said she joined the course drawing inspiration from her sister, who was a rank holder in the previous batch . As soon as the course was completed, she, along with others, got placement at the airport. Apart from this, KITTS has consistently focussed on providing career-oriented courses and training programmes that directly address the human resource requirements of the burgeoning tourism industry.

Adventure tourism

Recently, supporting the Tourism department’s attempt to ramp up Kerala’s standing as an adventure tourism hub, KITTS had launched an adventure tourism training programme, imparting basic training on adventure activities to cater to the needs of adventure parks. The training for two batches has been completed, and the training for the third batch will start soon.

With the global tourism sector experiencing tremendous growth and poised to create millions of job opportunities worldwide, KITTS seems to have a prominent place for tourism education in India and beyond.