Thesis (MSc) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Tourism and Hotel Management Department

Includes bibliography (sheets 47-58)

ABSTRACT Differences in individual experiences, situations, and circumstances influence tourism students' career development Students go a long way in choosing their careers. Most times, their experiences negatively or positively impact their careers development. Also, perceptions of internal and external factors e.g., country development and Covid-19 pandemic influence their careers pursuit. There are studies on the impact of Covid-19 on the perceptions and behavior of students. Despite the global impacts of Covid-19 on tourism, literature on how Covid-19 influences tourism students' career perceptions in North Cyprus is scarce. The knowledge of this could guide stakeholders on actions to take. This study aims to explore the influence of Covid-19 on international undergraduate African tourism and hospitality students' career perceptions and development in North Cyprus, and identify if there are differences in their perceptions in post-Covid-19. This qualitative method used face to face interviews in this study to collect data from African undergraduate students in the tourism & hospitality industry in North Cyprus. Career change and chaos theories helped in understanding the arguments therein. Results show that Covid-19 affected the career perceptions of the students. While majority agreed to continue in the industry, a few others said they will change to other industries because of long working hours, poor salary, and preference of low degrees to higher degrees employees. This study contributes to tourism and hospitality literature. Limitations and future research are discussed.