Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes Towards a Career in Tourism Industry: The Case of Indonesia

Abstract

As a world-class tourism destination, Indonesia is facing challenges in providing competent tourism human capital. Currently, the majority of tourism labor in Indonesia are low levels of education and only a few of them are graduated from higher education. Empirically, numerous studies suggest that many graduates from various tourism schools in several countries preferred to not opt for the tourism careers. This study aims to discover and analyze the perceptions and attitudes of final year students majoring in tourism and hospitality in Indonesia to pursue a career in the tourism industry. Using online distributed questionnaire through snowball sampling method, this study obtained 422 completed responses of tourism and hospitality undergraduates from Jakarta, Bandung, Lombok, Makassar, Palembang, Bali, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, and Batam. The collected data then analyzed by Importance Performance Analysis and cross-tabulation analysis. This study found that the career advancement and salaries were two factors in the industry considered as important factors but got a bad perception. However, the nature of work of tourism industry which offering enjoyable and fun environment are considered important and earned positive perception. This study also presents some impli­cations, mainly for the tourism industry in Indonesia.

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“…Not only does it help institutions and colleges attract students, but it also helps instructors build practical courses by understanding how students see things. In accord with this, Rosyidi (2021) found that 90.5% of 422 respondents desired to work in the tourism industry prior to COVID-19. When the circumstances changed to "after COVID-19," the figure dropped 81.5 percent.…”

“…Student interns' engagement in the field and direct contact with tourists is another feature of work in the tourism business. Students believe that internship programs are essential for improving skills and gaining job experience, although they must be willing to work without pay, according to the study by Rosyidi (2021). As a result, such programs are critical for students, particularly during the present pandemic, to assuage their anxieties about their prospects in the tourism industry.…”

“…In the study of Rosyidi (2021), According to respondents' beliefs, jobs in the tourist industry may not be able to meet their expectations. According to respondents, the tourist business is a high-risk job, employment with high beginning wages, and conventional working hours, on the other hand, had low perception and may not be available in the tourist business.…”

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