Analysis of the relationship between the opinions regarding tourism industry of students who receive tourism education in occupational and technical Anatolian high schools and their career values

The rapid change and development taking place in the tourism industry lead to a demand for qualified labor force. This qualified labor force can be supplied by ensuring that those who possess relevant skills compatible with the work conditions of the tourism industry receive tourism education. It is very important, in this context, for those students who attend Occupational and Technical Anatolian High Schools, which are the first step of the tourism education in Turkey, to be aware of their career values and the characteristics of the industry in which they will be employed before they make a career preference in the tourism industry. The basic purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between the opinions regarding tourism industry of students who receive tourism education in Occupational and Technical Anatolian High Schools and their career values. A 5-point Likert scale type questionnaire form created for this purpose was administered to 406 students receiving tourism education in three different Occupational and Technical Anatolian High Schools in Gaziantep in November 2014 and their opinions regarding the tourism industry and their primary career values were identified. Additionally, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests were used to determine if any significant relationship existed between the opinions regarding the tourism industry and the career values of the students, on the one side, and the independent variables of sex, age, type of school, the field of education, and career preference in the tourism industry, on the other side. The results of the study showed that the opinions of the students regarding employment in the tourism industry and work conditions were negative. "Stability" was the dominant career value on the part of the students who participated in the study. Significant relationships were found between the independent variables and the career values of the students and their opinions regarding the tourism industry. There was also a significant relationship between the career values of the students and their opinions regarding the tourism industry.