Stress Management and Emotional Labor in Indian Hospitality Education

This study examines the integration of stress management and emotional labor training into hospitality education curricula in India. It addresses key industry challenges such as irregular schedules, customer-oriented service requirements, emotional labor, stress, and burnout in a sector currently employing 39 million people and projected to employ 53 million by 2029 (Dsouza et al., 2023). The research evaluates pedagogical approaches designed to mitigate occupational stressors, including irregular shifts, physical demands, and emotional dissonance, which are particularly acute among hospitality workers in India (Bhattachayra & Dasgupta, 2021; Ma et al., 2021). It explores curricula that foster resilience and emotional regulation, thereby better preparing students for these demands, enhancing career longevity, and supporting mental health. The analysis contends that stress management education—targeting job insecurity, interpersonal conflicts, and emotional labor as primary stressors—improves frontline employees' well-being by reducing work-related stress (Yoo, 2023). Furthermore, it identifies prevalent stressors in Indian hospitality, reviews current educational practices (Mensah et al., 2024), and recommends advanced modules on emotional intelligence and resilience to counter emotional contagion and work-life imbalance (Elshaer et al., 2025; Rathi & Kumar, 2023)Specifically, this study critically analyzes existing frameworks for incorporating emotional labor—a core competency in guest-host interactions—into hospitality and tourism curricula (Nyanjom & Wilkins, 2021).Additionally, the study explores how digital transformation in hospitality services necessitates new stress management competencies, particularly regarding ethical AI use and human-centric service delivery (George, 2024). Using a mixed-methods approach of quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, it evaluates existing educational interventions, identifies gaps in preparing future hospitality professionals for the industry's psychological demands, and examines educators' perceptions of emotion skill development—which is often assumed implicitly rather than explicitly taught in curricula (Nyanjom & Wilkins, 2021).