Graduate employability skills have become one of the most important topics on the higher education agenda in the first decade of the 21st century. In the United States, and throughout the world, global competition, growth of a knowledge-based economy, technological advances, and the multigenerational workforce have combined to substantially alter the contemporary workplace (Gedye & Chalkey, 2006). Whether by choice or circumstance, the expectation of a secure lifelong position with one employer and the opportunity for linear career progression are no longer typical nor practical in the contemporary workplace (Harvey, Locke, & Morey, 2002). Employability skills are those skills, attributes, and behaviors, e.g., communication skills, problem-solving, organization, and planning, that bridge most disciplines, industries, and employing organizations. They have the greatest impact on the sustained, productive, successful employment of graduates (Cranmer, 2006; Gedye, Fender, & Chalkey, 2004). The purpose of this study was to (a) identify the employability skills employers perceive to be important for entry-level management/management-in-training positions in the hospitality industry, (b) to establish employability skills competency levels employers expect for these positions, and (c) to garner employer perceptions of Rosen College of Hospitality Management (RCHM) interns’ and new graduates’ employability skills competence for entry-level management/management-in-training positions in the hospitality industry. The findings add to the body of literature and provide insight into the need for further employability skills development of students prior to graduation and entrance into iv the workforce. Additionally, the study provides information and insight for faculty, career services, and experiential learning professionals regarding the skills students currently possess, the need for further skills development, and those skills employers deem most important

The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of customer vulnerability across varying service industries. While the concept of customer vulnerability has been debated in business, marketing, sociology, and psychology scholarly literature, there has been little research conducted that specifically investigates consumers’ perceptions of vulnerability during the service exchange. Specific to this research, customer vulnerability is defined as experiences in which consumers participate in a service exchange with a firm during a time of individual or shared medical, physical, emotional, or spiritual necessity, whether the vulnerability is experienced during the course of the transaction or whether consumers arrive to the firm already immersed in that state. Customer vulnerability is an important concept for research, as the exchanges between service providers and consumers during a time of vulnerability are heightened in emotion and memory. As a result, these exchanges lend themselves to be more likely to become transformative experiences, in that the provider and recipient may be left emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually changed as a result. Therefore, additional focus is needed in this area to understand transformative experiences in service as a result of exchanges between service providers and customers. The explorative study first conducts a critical literature review across disciplines regarding scales that have been used and are considered by the researcher to be important constructs of analysis when exploring vulnerable service encounters. Next, a qualitative investigation of consumer forums is conducted in the air travel, banking, and assisted living industries, which resulted in the finding that similar behavioral attributes within industry, but iv different behavioral attributes between industries, were needed to cater to consumers experiencing vulnerability. The study is followed by a quantitative investigation of vulnerable service experiences through an application of the identified scales combined with the results of the qualitative investigation across the same three industries. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that two industries’ results loaded onto two factors; however, each industry’s factors differed due to the nature of that industry. The air travel factors were entitled task humanism and task functionality. The banking factors were entitled maintenance functionality and maintenance humanism. A third factor was revealed within the assisted living facility segment entitled hospitable humanism, along with factors of personal humanism and personal functionality. The study concludes by presenting a discussion of the findings and practical implications for service industry managers, a presentation of the study limitations, and suggestions for future research.

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Xenophobia is a notoriously difficult concept to explore, especially within the complex South African environment. This exploration has two elements: the theoretical and the practical. The theoretical element focuses mainly on the theories of xenophobia in South Africa, as well as the theoretical response of the Church to the problem. The practical element is a qualitative empirical exploration using small scale focus group interviews to gain insight into the relationship between xenophobia and religion, with special reference to young Christians of The Methodist Church of Southern Africa. The findings seem to suggest that “being religious” does not prevent xenophobic attitudes and emotions and that there is potential to have xenophobic reactions in people who “perceive” themselves to be religious living in an environment of economic and social hardships. Religious involvement combined with economic and social factors may promote xenophobic reactions. In an indirect way(s) religion may be one of the “causes” of xenophobia. / Practical Theology / M Th. (Practical Theology)

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Management Science: Tourism and Hospitality Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / The advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) coupled with sophisticated network channels and applications have unveiled new avenues for small organizations and those in the hospitality industry must be included. However, there is limited industry specific research activity on the impact of adoption and utilisation of ICTs on business specifically with regard to the hospitality industry in developing countries. This report records the findings of an analysis into ICT and e-commerce adoption and use in small remote hospitality establishments in the Natal Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research used a mixed methods approach involving questionnaires, observations and interviews. The participants were drawn from three case areas namely Curry’s Post, Nottingham Road and Lions River. From each case area, two restaurants, two wedding venues, two lodges and two curio shops participated. The findings indicate that most establishment acknowledged the need to adopt and utilise ICT and e-commerce. The links between ICT adoption and level of business success were marked. The challenges to adoption and utilisation of ICT were found to centre on cost, owners’ lack of familiarity with ICTs, and a corresponding lack of ICT skills amongst staff. The inability of imported software packages to suit local needs also emerged as a significant issue. Recommendations involve targeted sponsorships of ICT courses, language accessibility initiatives, and adaptation of software packages to local needs, along with advantages in starting small and adopting more sophisticated ICT as the business grows. / M

Xenophobia is a notoriously difficult concept to explore, especially within the complex South African environment. This exploration has two elements: the theoretical and the practical. The theoretical element focuses mainly on the theories of xenophobia in South Africa, as well as the theoretical response of the Church to the problem. The practical element is a qualitative empirical exploration using small scale focus group interviews to gain insight into the relationship between xenophobia and religion, with special reference to young Christians of The Methodist Church of Southern Africa. The findings seem to suggest that “being religious” does not prevent xenophobic attitudes and emotions and that there is potential to have xenophobic reactions in people who “perceive” themselves to be religious living in an environment of economic and social hardships. Religious involvement combined with economic and social factors may promote xenophobic reactions. In an indirect way(s) religion may be one of the “causes” of xenophobia. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

International workers are a vulnerable population within the hospitality industry. Their challenges, and needs have an impact on productivity, loyalty and satisfaction of international workers towards the organizations that employ them. The social and cultural impacts of labor migration are felt in their new environment by both domestic and immigrant populations. It is important to understand international workers’ acculturation process in order to provide them with tools necessary to succeed; it is also important to create responsible practices that translate into positive migration outcomes for both domestic and foreign populations. This study collected data on the motivations, processes, challenges, and alternatives experienced by international workers when relocating to the United States. It documents the cultural adaptation process followed by international workers laboring in the hospitality industry, and based on the data collected from interviewers’ responses, it creates new constructs intended to assist hospitality organizations in their operations. By providing tools to support international workers in the acculturation process, and by providing new understandings of the cultural adaptation process undertaken by international workers when relocating, it is plausible to convert a challenge and limitation into an opportunity for hospitality organizations to create value out of their international human capital.

The constant growth of hotels worldwide is due to the increase of tourists every year. The hospitality industry is one of the most stable industries. Boutique Hotels, however, are starting to emerge more and more in every country and is a somewhat new concept in developing countries. In El Salvador the hospitality industry has a steady economic growth. Therefore, service and hospitality companies are born every year. With the concept of “Boutique Hotel” relatively new in El Salvador and occupancy rates increasing every year, it is the right time to open a Boutique Hotel with personalized services and unique features to attract customers, locals and foreigners. This is how the idea of Casa de Piedra Boutique Hotel was born. It is located in the capital of El Salvador, with a colonial style and offering a variety of services that will be relevant to our customers. It will rely on personalized customer services, unique features, décor and design, and trained personnel as key success factors. The target market will be mostly business people, conference and meeting attendees, and private companies outbound employees. The owner’s knowledge of the hospitality industry in El Salvador and the know how to run a company will play key parts in the success of the company. The financial plans and a five year expansion plan demonstrates the venture’s profit potential.

The Online Hotel Booking System was developed to allow customers to use a web browser to book a hotel, change the booking details, cancel the booking, change the personal profile, view the booking history, or view the hotel information through a GUI (graphical user interface). The system is implemented in PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) and HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language).

Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010. / In recent years, the South African hotel industry has experienced increasing demand for hotel's services. At the same time, mounting costs of energy affects energy performance and public image. Energy management is a new approach to address those widespread problems. This study aimed to suggest good management practices and develop a "self-help" approach, to reduce the demand and costs of energy for the South Africa hotel industry. This is expected to result in monetary savings and conservation of energy resources. This has been done by conducting survey within seven selected hotels in Cape Town, metropolitan of South Africa. In addition, through the "self-help" guide, approaches to energy management system are also described, showing the ways for hotels to achieve better energy performance. Potentials for savings from good housekeeping are estimated to 10 - 15%. The "self-help" guide is recommended to be improved through implementation in pilot hotels; and the proposal set of benchmarks need to be different for hotels in different provinces of South Africa considering the differences in climate conditions. The result of this study range from presenting the energy conservation awareness, barriers, method of conservation, financial and institution mechanisms, policy measures, status of energy use and propose strategy to develop a "Self-help" guide for energy management in South African Hotel industry. It has been found that energy monitoring has been done in the South African Cape Town hotels. From the total energy consumed by this industry, electricity accounts 80% of it of which air conditioning takes the biggest share (about 50%) and the remaining for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), diesel and others fuels. In addition, through the "self-help" guide, approaches to energy management system are also described, showing the ways for hotels to achieve better energy performance. Potentials for savings from good housekeeping are estimated to 10 - 15%. The "self-help" guide is recommended to be improved through implementation in pilot hotels; and the proposal set of benchmarks need to be different for hotels in different provinces of South Africa considering the differences in climate conditions.