Abstract:
This thesis examines the perceptions of tourism as a graduate career from the view of key
stakeholders of tourism - the government, industry, educators and students. It aims to
understand what key tourism stakeholders in Malaysia do in promoting tourism as a
graduate career, and how students perceive tourism as a career option. The literature
suggests that the issue of perceptions of tourism as a career be investigated from the
perspective of key stakeholders. Hence, a stakeholder-inclusive approach in tourism
human resource development is suggested as a measure to address the skilled labour
shortage in tourism and the needs of various stakeholders. An analytical framework has
been developed in this thesis to illustrate the relationships and gaps amongst stakeholders
and how they view tourism as a graduate career in Malaysia.
A total of 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior officials from
relevant Ministries, industry bodies, a major employer, and directors of tourism
management programs at two public universities and two polytechnics in Malaysia. In
addition to that, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 193 final year students of
tourism management programs at the same tertiary institutions. The qualitative data was
coded into prominent themes while the quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS.
This thesis found that the shortage of skilled labour is one of the issues faced by the
stakeholders, due to the industry offering low level positions. The government believes
that current policies in promoting tourism careers to students were adequate but the
industry and educators feel that government does not provide adequate information about
career paths in tourism for students. This thesis also discovered that students have
generally positive perceptions of tourism as a career. Variables like level of education,
willingness to choose a tourism program and overseas travel experience are significant,
while the size of the employer, work experience in tourism, and the roles of family and
friends working in tourism do not have an influence on students' career-related decisions.
All stakeholders play a role in promoting tourism as a career to students but some
measures have also been suggested to promote it more effectively.
