The potential and pitfalls of tourism education in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals: A case study of Karnataka, India

India's adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the positioning of tourism sector to advance the SDGs, urges tourism education (TE) to develop relevant skills and capacity. Global research informs TE's little success in developing the necessary skills to drive sustainability in tourism. However, empirical studies illuminating issues that undermine TE's potential to build skills and inform the policy are limited. Qualitative methodology in a multi-case study approach is used to acquire data from 180 respondents across multiple stake-holders in an emerging tourism region. The findings reveal five main pitfalls undermining the quality of TE. First, TE is isolated from policy. Second, there is low stakeholder confidence in TE output. Third, poor quality of TE is one of the reasons for the deficit of skills and capacity. Four, tourism studies are characterized by weak course structures, content and pedagogy. Lastly, an underlying bias exists as a residue of colonial establishments. These pervasive issues affect TE's potential to develop skills and capacity to drive the SDGs in the sector.