The contribution of internship in developing industry relevant management competencies among hotel and tourism management students

Among the goals of higher education is to prepare students for their future career. Traditionally, universities and colleges education emphasises on teaching theoretical knowledge, but industry demand practical skills and practices. This disparity somehow create imbalance between what industry wants and what academician are offering. Hospitality and tourism employers reported that they faced scarcity of suitably qualified employees in both management and skilled workers. With that, internship has become a major factor in the curricula and has been actively pursued as a viable procedure for bridging the theoretical world of academia and the practical world of industry. It is said that education of these potential future employees need to be more aligned with the industry in order to compete in the rapidly changing business practical skills and management competencies besides strengthen the networking with the opportunity to screen potential employees.