Industry-Academia Alignment in Entry-Level Hospitality Competencies: Evidence from Indian Hotel Management Education

Abstract

This study examines the alignment between industry and academia in entry-level hospitality competencies in India. The data was collected from 389 respondents in Delhi NCR, including 179 hospitality academicians and 210 hotel recruiters. The analyses used descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, reliability testing, independent sample t-tests, paired sample t-tests and gap analysis. The study identified six competency dimensions: communication, self-management, leadership and analytical ability, professional skills and knowledge, service ethics and safety orientation, and social intelligence and career attitudes. Required competency scores were higher than observed scores across all the dimensions. The largest gap was found in leadership and analytical competencies, followed by self-management and service ethics/safety orientation. These findings indicate that the hospitality programs need stronger competency-based curriculum mapping, structured internship assessment, simulation-based learning and industry-led employability feedback