Abstract
The increasing digitalisation of the tourism industry has introduced new expectations for workforce competencies, particularly in developing economies like Malaysia. The present study investigates how three core digital competencies, i.e. digital literacy, platform/tool awareness, and technology readiness, influence employability readiness among two key groups including final-year tourism students and in-service professionals. Drawing on Human Capital Theory and the Technology Readiness Index, the research applies Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to examine 350 responses collected through purposive sampling. Results confirm that all three competencies positively influence employability readiness, with platform/tool awareness exerting the strongest effect. Multi-group analysis reveals that digital literacy has a significantly greater impact on students than on professionals, suggesting that students depend more on digital skills to enhance employability perceptions due to limited experience. The results highlight how crucial it is to match job training and educational curricula with changing digital needs. The results provide practical insights for educators, business professionals, and policymakers looking to bridge digital skill gaps and fortify the tourist workforce in the face of continuous digital transformation.
Keywords
digital literacy, technology readiness, employability, tourism workforce, platform awareness, Malaysia
ORCID Identifiers
Asif Khurshid Mian -
Fraz Arshed Butt -
Omar Sajid -
DOI
10.5038/2771-5957.4.2.1066
Recommended Citation
Mian, A. K., Butt, F. A., & Sajid, O. (2025). Bridging the digital skills gap: a comparative study of employability readiness among tourism students and professionals in Malaysia. Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism, 4(2), 123-135. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2771-5957.4.2.1066
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Hospitality Administration and Management Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Tourism and Travel Commons
