Suggesting a Tailored Career Guidance Program in Egyptian Tourism and Hotels High Institutes

Career Guidance Program is a comprehensive development program that assists students in educational institutes to determine their career choices and decisions. It also helps them to acquire the field knowledge and skills in order to identify the appropriate selection, explore alternatives and succeed in the labor market. The paper aims at developing a recognized policy for career guidance program in Egyptian high institutes of tourism and hotels, especially after dictating the new study plan starting from the education year of 2017/2018. Field survey study has been carried out through selecting a sample of 3 tourism and hotels high institutes, taking in consideration the geographical distribution. To reach paper’s objectives, a questionnaire form has been distributed among 170 students. However, only 142 valid questionnaires were received. Moreover, an interview has been conducted with 12 academic staff working in the sampled institutes with different specialties. Furthermore, a suggested career guidance model has been developed with reference to 9 reputable international academic associations and also reviewed and accepted by the 12 interviewed academic staff. Research’s results prove the need for career guidance program in the Egyptian tourism and hotels high institutes to assist students in selecting their specialty and facilitate the process of career selection. Finally, it is recommended that the Ministry of Higher Education (MHE) should set an obligatory career guidance program in the Egyptian tourism and hotels high institutes, taking in mind the proposed model as a guideline platform. In addition, the institutes have to build a career guidance unit with the involvement of tourism industry’s stakeholders, taking into account the on-line career guidance activities, career counseling sessions, quality standards and sustainable development.