A comparative analysis of the national diploma tourism management to the human resources needs of the tourism industry.
Molefe, Philisiwe Lorraine
Molefe, Philisiwe Lorraine
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Abstract
The tourism industry has received a great deal of attention where economic development issues are discussed. South Africa is not an exception to this trend. The country places a high premium on tourism in terms of economic growth. As the attention paid to the tourism industry has increased, attempts to resource the tourism industry through tourism education have also increased. In spite of the increased provision of tourism education, it still faces criticism for its limited ability to meet the needs of the tourism industry. Tourism employers complain about skills mismatch resulting in the inability of tourism students to perform tourism jobs once they have qualified from a tourism programme. A host of studies have investigated the content and the relevance of tourism education. However, these studies are concentrated on first world countries, particularly the United Kingdom and Australia. Very little is yet known about the South African curriculum content for tourism higher education. The primary aim of this research is to determine whether students with a National Diploma: Tourism Management meet the Human Resource requirements of tourism employers using the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in Gauteng as a case study. TUT is a public higher education institution located in Gauteng, South Africa. The population was all tourism employers in South Africa. A non-random convenience sampling method was used. The study made use of a quantitative research design and a standardised, computerised self-administered questionnaire (CSAQ) hosted online by SurveyMonkey to gather data. The quantitative data gathered were converted into an Excel spreadsheet and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Statistical Analysis System (SAS). Descriptive statistics were presented, and a factor analysis, Chronbach’s Alpha; cluster analyses and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied to determine the results of the study. In general, the respondents perceived the skills identified by the study as important for employment in the tourism industry. Based on the results of the questionnaire and the content analysis of the National Diploma: Tourism Management offered at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), it can be concluded that the programme meets the human resources requirements of the tourism employers in South Africa. The contribution of the study is the identification of skills that are regarded as important for employment in the tourism industry. This result will be useful in determining curriculum content when enriching the existing tourism curriculum.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree, Magister technologiae Tourism and Hospitality Management in the Department of Tourism Management,
Faculty of Management Sciences at the Tshwane University of Technology
Date
2014-10-01
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Tourism employers, Tourism industry, Economic development, Tourism jobs, Chronbach’s alpha