Abstract
The study aims to determine factors contributing to the employability of hospitality graduates. The study adopted a qualitative research approach using semi-structured interviews. A purposive judgement sampling was used to gather hotel line managers' perspectives and knowledge in four-and five-star hotels in Pretoria, South Africa. Six themes were generated from the data. The results suggest that the employability of hospitality management is contingent on (i) the work environment; (ii) hospitality educational institutions; (iii) employability attributes required by hotel managers; (iv) hospitality management graduates; (v) future readiness of hospitality management graduates; and (vi) human resource management (HRM) in the hotel industry. Suggestions can assist education institutions, hotel managers, hospitality management graduates, students and future researchers, particularly in the current environment of global connectedness, the knowledge economy, and the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technological advancements. This paper contributes to the literature on graduate employability and higher education institutions (HEI) in the hospitality domain. A good understanding of the factors contributing to the employability of hospitality graduates will be a positive factor in retaining graduates in the hospitality sector, advancing the industry, and obtaining more sustained graduate employment in the future. This study can further be utilized as an instrument to recognize graduates' capability to become future managers.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1495-1511 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2023 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Employability
- graduates
- hospitality
- hotels
- human resource management
- student
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management