Factors influencing students in pursuing tourism courses: A case of Management and Science University (MSU)

The high growth of inbound tourists to Malaysia has led the government, industry and students' interest in tourism for the post-secondary education level. The development of tourism industry had directed the students to believe that the tourism industry is very large and there are a lot of career opportunities and career growth. In view of the significance in this field several public and private universities, polytechnics and colleges are gearing up to offer the hospitality and tourism programs at various levels starting from Diploma, Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Doctor of Philosophy. The programmes or courses offered to students by the relevant educational institutions are very competitive and aim to produce graduates who are experts in the field of management especially in term of tourism and planning, management, development and marketing. This study will focus on factor influences students in selection of tourism courses in private university. As to seek and gather information for this study, a quantitative approach will be taken by distributing questionnaires to selected number of Management Science University students. The results of the study are useful for the running of the courses in order to increase student's intake as well as to create a great workforce for the tourism industry.