Investigating The Gap Between Training Components And Hotel Industry Requirements: The Perspective Of Hotel Managers In Hail, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The study examined the extent to which the curricula and training components for hospitality and tourism students support their attainment of skills and competencies required in the industry. The study aimed at identifying the gaps between the competencies and skills exhibited by hospitality and tourism graduates and what is expected in the industry. A case study approach was adopted, and five hotel managers drawn from two hotels operating in Hail, City Saudi Arabia, were involved as respondents. Using semi-structured interviews, the researcher obtained the views of the managers, on the training gaps, the effectiveness of the hospitality education curriculum, and the importance of collaboration between the institutions offering hospitality and tourism education and industry experts in working towards the elimination of the gaps. The findings of the study indicate that there are significant gaps in competencies and skills achieved by graduates through education and those required in the industry. The gaps are evident in the areas of technical and operational competencies, soft skills and adaptability, and resilience skills. These gaps portray a major concern about the employability of the graduates and their ability to excel in a real-organizational setting, presenting a need for a robust and industry-aligned curriculum. The study highlights the importance of institutions offering hospitality and tourism education to abolish traditional teacher-led teaching methods and embrace a curriculum that integrates practical training in an industry context and collaboration with industry experts. Such a curriculum will promote the acquisition of industry-specific competencies and skills, further enhancing the capabilities and readiness of the graduates to meet the industry demands. Future studies should consider including students as respondents to obtain their views on the same and provide a balanced perspective on the skills and competencies gap, as well as the probable strengths of weaknesses of the curriculum. Adopting a mixed-methods research design in future studies will assist in addressing the drawbacks of qualitative research to obtain more reliable findings.