Recalculating - the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic on the career planning of tourism students

Abstract

Attracting and retaining qualified employees has been a challenge in the tourism sector even before the pandemic. The shortage of workers with a quality education is partly due to the fact that young people with a degree in tourism choose to work in other industries after graduation. Our aim is to explore the perception of tourism as a profession of tourism students by examining the aspects influencing career choices before and after the epidemic. Focus group interviews were used to map students ’attitudes toward tourism. The results suggest that students who consider the profession to fit their personality are more likely to build their careers in this sector, while those who have had mainly negative experiences in a crisis situation have a different perspective on their future.