In South Africa, the term transformation covers various aspects of change in society, including inter alia race, gender, religion, and socio-economic change. The rest of the world uses the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) terminology to address these matters of change. The paper unpacks aspects of diversity and inclusion in the tourism sector in South Africa and interrogate lessons for higher education institutions (HEIs) in preparing employable graduates for an ever-changing sector. There is a growing focus on the employability of graduates and the role that HEIs must play in this regard. The paper further explores whether the development of soft skills should include aspects of DEI training. Arguably, it remains unclear who is ultimately responsible for the employability of graduates but a collaborative approach between HEIs and industry could result in improved talent development and selection for the tourism sector. Key conclusions in the paper are that the challenges for HEIs in South Africa will include having a better understanding of the aspirations of their students; ensuring that teaching practices are agile to new learning styles; that the curriculum content is updated to reflect DEI matters; and that industry experiences and exposure remain core to the learning process. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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