Factors affecting the students' choice to study Tourism and Hospitality Management major: Case study of a college in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract This study aims to identify and analyze the factors affecting the students' choice to study the key international program- Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management at Kien Giang College – is one of the oldest colleges in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Data in the study were collected from 209 students majoring in Tourism and Hospitality Management. Then, the data were processed with reliability assessment of the scale, exploratory factor analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis. The results show that there are 06 factors affecting the students’ choice to study the key international major - Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management of students at Kien Giang College, including: Promotional information, career opportunities, personal interests & abilities, college reputation, reference objects, and study benefits. Thereby, some recommendations are proposed to attract more students to this international key program in the future. Keywords: The Mekong Delta, Tourism and Hospitality Management major, students’ choice to study, Vietnam