Global Advanced Research Journal of Management and Business Studies (ISSN: 2315-5086) December 2016 Vol. 5(10), pp 339-346

Copyright © 2016 Global Advanced Research Journals   

Original Research Articles

Career Perception of Undergraduate Students on Tourism and Hospitality Industry in Thailand

Teerati Anandhwanlert¹ and  Dr. Chaipat Wattanasan²

¹Student-MBA, St.Theresa International College

²Dean - Faculty of Business Administration

Corresponding author Email: nickykaur51@yahoo.com

Accepted 13 October 2016

Abstract 

Tourism and Hospitality Industry is the largest foreign exchange generator in Thailand. Beyond its adverse effects, it has been justified that tourism generates employability. But still it is often criticized as generating low-skilled and low-paying jobs that offer little job satisfaction. This research was conducted based on a previously tested model to understand the underlying factors influencing students’ commitment to employment in the tourism and hospitality industry. Based on the literature review surrounding the topic, six factors i.e., nature of work, social status, career prospects, promotion opportunities, physical working conditions, pay and fringe are the likely benefits to influence commitment. The model was tested using responses collected from 110 students studying tourism and hospitality related undergraduate programs in various Institutions of Thailand. The study relied on the use of a structured questionnaire which was pilot tested with 30 students. The results of One-Way ANOVA indicate that the factor ‘Nature of Work’ is not strongly associated with the variable, “the advantages of working in tourism outweigh the disadvantages”, but have positive relationship. Regression analysis performed based on enter method shows that all variables related to Nature of work (b=4.45; p<0.05) have significant and positive impact towards overall evaluation for working in tourism industry except one variable, ‘meeting new people by working in tourism’ is a pleasant experience having negative impact on overall evaluation. 

Keywords: Career perception, undergraduate students, tourism and hospitality industry.