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Revisiting professionalism in hospitality: contemporary contemporary perspectives from stakeholders in hospitality higher education
Date Issued
2025-02
Author(s)
Holmesglen Department
Abstract
Following the COVID-19 years, the global tourism industry has experienced remarkable
growth, with the UNWTO (2024) reporting a return to 97% of pre-pandemic levels in the
first quarter of 2024 – reflecting year-on-year growth of 20%. The myriad of opportunities
that this rapid growth has offered hospitality graduates, has also created challenges for both
education providers and students, who must continually enhance their skills to stay
competitive and market-ready. Professionalism, one of the most essential competencies for a
high-quality hospitality workforce, has only been thoroughly explored within the past
decade (Cheng & Wong, 2015; Lee, 2014).
Professionalism has traditionally been associated with fields including law, architecture,
medicine, science, or engineering. However, Cheng and Wong (2015) were among the first
to interpret professionalism within the context of the hospitality industry through an
exploratory study that included focus-group interviews with junior staff, middle managers,
and senior managers across local and international hotel brands. Drawing on the perspective
of hospitality practitioners, professionalism was conceptualized across nine attitudinal
dimensions: passion, openness to change, a team-oriented attitude, competence and skills,
interpersonal skills, emotional self-control, professional ethics, leadership by example, and
perfectionism (Cheng and Wong, 2015). Hospitality educators need to be congnisant of
these elements of professionalism to ensure that their students graduate with the skills and
competencies that the industry requires (Fraser, 2020). Students should also reflect on these
dimensions as they form their professional identity, a crucial element of graduate
employability (Jackson, 2016).
growth, with the UNWTO (2024) reporting a return to 97% of pre-pandemic levels in the
first quarter of 2024 – reflecting year-on-year growth of 20%. The myriad of opportunities
that this rapid growth has offered hospitality graduates, has also created challenges for both
education providers and students, who must continually enhance their skills to stay
competitive and market-ready. Professionalism, one of the most essential competencies for a
high-quality hospitality workforce, has only been thoroughly explored within the past
decade (Cheng & Wong, 2015; Lee, 2014).
Professionalism has traditionally been associated with fields including law, architecture,
medicine, science, or engineering. However, Cheng and Wong (2015) were among the first
to interpret professionalism within the context of the hospitality industry through an
exploratory study that included focus-group interviews with junior staff, middle managers,
and senior managers across local and international hotel brands. Drawing on the perspective
of hospitality practitioners, professionalism was conceptualized across nine attitudinal
dimensions: passion, openness to change, a team-oriented attitude, competence and skills,
interpersonal skills, emotional self-control, professional ethics, leadership by example, and
perfectionism (Cheng and Wong, 2015). Hospitality educators need to be congnisant of
these elements of professionalism to ensure that their students graduate with the skills and
competencies that the industry requires (Fraser, 2020). Students should also reflect on these
dimensions as they form their professional identity, a crucial element of graduate
employability (Jackson, 2016).
Description
This is pre-published version of CAUTHE 2025 conference presentation. Pre-published version of the conference presentation PowerPoint slides is also available in this Repository.
Type
Conference Paper
Affiliates
Holmesglen Institute
Holmesglen Faculty
Higher Education and Applied Research
URI
https://holmesglen.intersearch.com.au/handle/20.500.11800/419