Students’ Career in Tourism Industry in Northern Albania: A Comparative Analysis Between Vocational High School and University Diploma

First, this study seeks to examine the potential factors impacting a student’s career in the tourism industry; secondly, it explores whether there are any significant differences in students’ careers in the tourism industry based on demographic variables, such as education. Data was collected through questionnaires, distributed to the students in vocational high schools and universities in Northern Albania, in 2024. To find out the factors that impact student careers in the tourism industry, the factor and reliability analysis were used. The multiple regression analysis was performed, using the ‘student career in the tourism industry’ as the dependent variable and factors as: ‘Perspective and Confidence in the Tourism Industry’; ‘Personal and Professional Development’, ‘Values and Commitment in the Tourism Industry’, ‘Willingness to Adapt and Relocate’ and ‘Emotional Adaptation in the Tourism Industry’ as independent variables. Several factors were found to have a significant impact on students’ careers in the tourism industry. The results revealed that education has a significant impact on student careers in the tourism industry. University students expressed higher levels of students’ career compared with vocational high school students, and the difference was statistically significant. Moreover, the results of the t-test for each of the five potential factors showed that there was a significant difference based on education.