NEP 2020 and the Future of Tourism Higher Education in India

The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) represents the most profound paradigm shift in Indian higher education in over three decades. For vocational and professional disciplines like Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality, it dismantling rigid departmental silos that previously constrained student learning. At the Amity Institute of Travel & Tourism (AITT) and Amity Institute of Liberal Arts (AILA) at Amity University Mumbai, we have restructured our 4-Year BTTM (Honours with Research) degree around NEP principles: ### Core Pedagogical Pillars under NEP 2020 1. **Multiple Entry and Exit Pathways:** Students earn a Certificate after Year 1, a Diploma after Year 2, a Bachelor's Degree after Year 3, and a Bachelor's with Honours / Research after Year 4. 2. **Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts Synergy:** Travel students undertake minors in Behavioral Psychology, Data Science, Cultural Anthropology, or Environmental Law. 3. **Apprenticeship & Research Embedment:** Final-year students execute live empirical field research projects, learning SPSS, regression modeling, and survey methodologies rather than solely memorizing theoretical frameworks. By bridging theoretical rigor with empirical inquiry, we prepare graduates who are not just employable managers, but forward-looking innovators and destination architects.