Hospitality-Preneur: From Employability to Independent Professionalism in Hospitality Education

The tourism and hospitality industry is among the largest global employers, engaging over 270 million workers, or approximately 8.2% of the world’s labor force (ILO, 2023). However, hospitality education remains largely oriented toward an employability paradigm, positioning graduates primarily as prospective corporate employees. This approach is increasingly contested amid the rise of the gig economy, digitalization, and the growing prevalence of self-employment in service industries such as hospitality. This conceptual article introduces the term hospitality-preneur to capture a new paradigm in hospitality education—one that frames knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) as core assets for building independent professional pathways without reliance on formal corporate structures. Drawing on classical entrepreneurship theories (Schum-peter, Baumol) and contemporary literature on the gig economy, this article proposes a conceptual framework that highlights the shift from job-ready employees to life-ready independent professionals. Theoretically, this study contributes to the literature by expanding the definition of entrepreneurship in the hospitality context. Practically, it offers direction for reorienting tourism education in Indonesia to produce graduates who are work-and life-ready and capable of professional self-reliance..