Students’ Communication with Employers: The Competitiveness and Employability Perspective

Marija Rok
Additional contact information
Marija Rok: Faculty of Tourism Studies – Turistica

Academica Turistica - Tourism and Innovation Journal, 2014, vol. 7, issue 2, 169-177

Abstract: Purpose – This paper discusses the topic of the competitiveness of tourism and hospitality students on the job market. As the current economic recession continues, the tourism and hospitality industry (THI) in Slovenia faces an alarming decrease in revenue, and the employment crisis is expected to worsen. Higher education institutions (HEI) are concerned with the future of their graduates and, therefore, have to equip them with relevant skills, knowledge and attitudes, as well as raise their awareness of the importance of lifelong learning, i.e. formal, non-formal and experiential learning. Methods – Our discussion focuses on students in the second and third years of their studies at the faculty of tourism. The survey evaluates data regarding the amount and the quality of their competencies as well as their job marketability in order to assess their future competitiveness on the job market. Findings – The results indicate that students need to improve their competitive edge by striving to reach a higher level of competencies and to increase their competitive spirit so as to enhance their future opportunities on the job market. Originality of the research – Thus far, little research has been devoted to assessing students’ performances in increasing their competitiveness before graduation. This paper aims to provide a feedback tool for both students and the faculty about students’ achievements and their awareness of the importance of competence development as well as the ability to demonstrate and present their competencies to employers in the THI.

Keywords: tourism and hospitality industry; higher education; employability; competence; competitiveness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.hippocampus.si/ISSN/2335-4194/7-2_169-177.pdf full text in English (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:prp:jattij:v:7:y:2014:i:2:p:169-177

Access Statistics for this article

Academica Turistica - Tourism and Innovation Journal is currently edited by Gorazd Sedmak

More articles in Academica Turistica - Tourism and Innovation Journal from University of Primorska Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Alen Jezovnik ().