How did the COVID-19 pandemic influence students’ career expectations in the hotel and tourism industry?

Abstract

Career expectations contribute to job satisfaction and worker persistence. The tourism industry is characterized by high staff turnover. The industry was decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic causing widespread unemployment and transforming working conditions, while radically altering educational conditions for hospitality and tourism students. We assessed how the pandemic influenced students' expectations, comparing undergraduate opinions before and during the pandemic. While Pandemic-Students were more pessimistic about working conditions, they revealed an increased desire to provide personal interactive service and a greater tendency towards entrepreneurialism. These results contrast with previous research; highlighting students’ resilience and suggesting a positive vision of pandemic-related opportunities. © 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Author Keywords

undergraduate students tourism and hospitality Career expectation COVID-19 pandemic impacts

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Leiria, Portugal

Funding & Acknowledgements

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT

Grant: UIDB/004470/2020

The authors acknowledge support through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) – project UIDB/004470/2020 .

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT

The authors acknowledge support through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) – project UIDB/004470/2020 .

References 10 References

1 Categorical Data Analysis, (2002)

2 Benaraba, Charlyn Mae D., A Comparative Analysis on the Career Perceptions of Tourism Management Students Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, 30, (2022)

3 Blome, Christine, Measuring change in quality of life: Bias in prospective and retrospective evaluation, Value in Health, 18, 1, pp. 110-115, (2015)

4 Blomme, Robert Jan, The hospitality industry: An attractive employer? An exploration of students’ and industry workers’ perceptions of hospitality as a career field, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education, 21, 2, pp. 6-14, (2009)

5 Blomme, Robert Jan, The Influence of Organizational Culture on Negative Work-Home Interference Among Highly Educated Employees in the Hospitality Industry, Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism, 14, 1, pp. 1-23, (2013)

6 Borges, Ana Pinto, Education as a key to provide the growth of entrepreneurial intentions, Education and Training, 63, 6, pp. 809-832, (2021)

7 Brown, Eric A., Are they leaving or staying: A qualitative analysis of turnover issues for Generation Y hospitality employees with a hospitality education, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 46, pp. 130-137, (2015)

8 Journal of Education and Work, (2002)

9 Impact of the Covid 19 Outbreak on the Tourism and Travel Sectors in Portugal Recommendations for Maximising the Contribution of the European Regional Development Fund Erdf and the Cohesion Fund Cf to the Recovery, (2021)

10 Bakkevig Dagsland, Åse Helene, “We’re not slaves – we are actually the future!” A follow-up study of apprentices’ experiences in the Norwegian hospitality industry, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 67, 4, pp. 460-481, (2015)

How did the COVID-19 pandemic influence students’ career expectations in the hotel and tourism industry?

How to Cite