Graduates play a critical role in countering negative stigma and safeguarding the reputation of tourism education, yet their attitudes remain underexplored. This study investigates how intrinsic competences (e.g. transferable skills, personal interest) and extrinsic stressors (e.g. employment stress, occupational stigma) shape graduates’ attitudes toward tourism degrees. These findings indicate that innovative ability, empathy, and service awareness positively contribute to perceived career benefits. Furthermore, both career benefits and personal interest significantly enhance graduates’ cognitive and affective attitudes. While employment stress negatively affects affective attitudes, occupational stigma unexpectedly has a positive effect through activating a cultural and psychological mechanism. These results provide valuable theoretical and practical implications for advancing tourism education, highlighting the need to leverage graduates’ potential as ambassadors for the field.