Abstract
ABSTRACTThis study explored tertiary hospitality students’ attitudes and overall perceptions about green and sustainable practices; and how these may impact their future career paths in the hotel industry. A thematic analysis with data from 12 semi-structured interviews with students in a hotel management school in Australia was used to identify patterns and interpretive themes. Results revealed positive attitudes among Generation Y hospitality students towards working in a green and sustainable hotel environment. Implications highlight the need for sustainability education in the curriculum of tertiary education providers and strong emphasis on sustainability practices in employee training programs. The results also suggest possible impacts of sustainability practices in recruiting and hiring in the hospitality industry and how this may affect future hospitality employees and leaders.
Highlights
The hospitality and tourism industry plays a significant role in the economic environment contributing approximately 5% to the worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) (Sloan, Legrand, & Chen, 2013)
Semi-structured interviews (See Appendix for full interview questions) were used to gather data, con- sisting of four broad areas (1) student’s engagement in environmental practices during work placements, (2) personal concern with environmental issues, (3) student’s feelings about the importance of sustainability education in the hotel school’s curriculum and (4) perceptions on the need to be involved with sustainability and its impact on their future career paths
The objective of the research was to explore hospitality students’ attitudes towards sustain- ability topics and how these attitudes impact upon career decisions
Summary
The hospitality and tourism industry plays a significant role in the economic environment contributing approximately 5% to the worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) (Sloan, Legrand, & Chen, 2013). According to The Australian Tourism Labour Force Report, the demand for hospi- tality workers is forecasted to grow by 123,000, including 60,000 skilled workers by 2020 (Deloitte, 2015). Based on these figures, the magnitude of human and natural resources associated with this industry is significant and faces many challenges, the labour intensity and the requirement of a continuous flow of well-educated staff (Baum, 2007; Baum, Kralj, Robinson, & Solnet, 2016; Lee-Ross & Pryce, 2010). In a recent study, Eurico et al (2015, p.39) found that “employability was revealed to be a dimension that influences the image that graduates form about higher education institutions, which has an impact on their intention to return to continue their studies and on their recommendations to potential candidates”
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