Malaysian Tourism and Hospitality Graduates Competencies: Exploring the Human Resource Managers Perceptions

Graduates competencies as perceived by the industry are vital particularly in designing the program curriculum. Hence, the study explores the perceptions of 60 Human Resource Managers of tourism and hospitality industry in Malaysia regarding the competency items need to be possessed by the tourism and hospitality graduates. 40 competencies are identified in the case of Malaysian tourism and hospitality graduates. The findings indicate that the respondents perceive the item ‘ability to work in teamwork’ as a vital competency which the graduates must possess in order to survive within the industry. In addition, the item ‘ability to use technology’ is perceived by the respondent as the most insignificant competency. It can be concluded that in order for the graduates to survive within the industry, working in teamwork is important but knowing how to use technology is not a must. The study significantly contributes to the planning of tourism and hospitality graduate’s curriculum by taking into consideration the vital competency items as perceived in the Malaysian perspectives. In doing so, it is also suggested that the tourism and hospitality representatives should be involved during the first phase of designing the curriculum.