Search results

The primary purpose is to investigate the relationship between hospitality education and the industry of Cyprus as it relates to students' internship practices. The mismatch between the educational experience delivered to hospitality students and the “real world” practice they experience is investigated.

Methodological triangulation was utilized in order to investigate the unique characteristics of all three primary hospitality stakeholders; the students, the educators and the hospitality professionals. Quantitative survey and qualitative semi‐structured interview data were utilized to provide conceptual clarity of the discrepancies between hospitality education and the industry.

Analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data produced a five‐element model and revealed a number of respective gaps on the issues affecting the hospitality industry‐education relationship in Cyprus.

The article proposes the development of a model which measures the relationship, gaps or commonalities, between the hospitality industry and education. Such a model is of value and will find a multitude of uses for all stakeholders involved.

Service organizations are encouraged to consider the manner in which employees perform at the customer/front‐line employee interface, as a means to gain competitive advantage. The employee's behaviour requires “emotional labour” where the front‐line employee (academic), has to either conceal or manage actual feelings for the benefit of a successful service delivery. The implication is not necessarily of equality or mutual benefit, but of satisfaction for the customer (student) and profit for the management. The paper discusses whether the academic is being exploited in this three‐way relationship. To illustrate this argument, data gathered from in‐depth interviews at a higher education institution are used. The research is of value as an aid for the management and support of academic staff in an age of managerialism and to the notion of the student as customer.

The primary purpose is to investigate specific human resources issues that challenge managerial level employees of the Cypriot hospitality industry. In particular the study, aims to examine: the motivational factors that directly impact on hospitality managers; burnout among hospitality managers; and the factors most likely to cause managers to either change employers or change industry segments entirely.

The research design included both an extensive literature review of secondary data sources relevant with the topics under investigation and a quantitative primary data collection tool; a survey questionnaire. The sample consisted of 200 randomly selected individuals currently holding managerial level positions in 5‐, 4‐ and 3‐star hotels operating in Cyprus, in order to address our research questions. The data was analyzed utilizing both descriptive and inferential statistics.

The findings on motivation tend to echo those which relate to the content motivation theories whose focus is on what it is about the individual. Furthermore, the findings affirm earlier research which suggests that motivational factors are likely to change as demographics change. In addition, the findings indicate that hospitality managers experience low levels of accomplishment, irrespective of age, while those with high levels of customer contact are at greater risk of experiencing burnout.

As far as turnover and leakage issues are concerned, the local hospitality industry could do well by reviewing its manager retention practices.

An investigation of this type has not been undertaken in Cyprus before. Consequently it is creating new knowledge in the Cypriot hospitality industry, and which could be utilized by the stakeholders in their future human resource strategies.