Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 
This study has implications for educators and the lodging industry, alike. The identification of internship 
prerequisites, for example, offers guidance for educators in developing more effective curricula. Suggested is that 
students complete their studies in communications and hone up on their interpersonal skills prior to entering into 
internship programs. Also, students should have the basic understanding of workplace acumen and commitment, as 
well as being capable of portraying enthusiasm in a genuinely hospitable manner. Competence in these leadership 
and interpersonal requisites can assist students with experiencing positive internship residencies and creating more 
equitable student/host property partnership arrangements. Furthermore host properties can benefit through 
sponsorships, as well. Interns can share with their sponsors current research and academic knowledge they learned 
from leading scholars and professors in their formal classroom environments. Additionally, lodging employers have 
the opportunity to hire into permanent employment statuses property-trained intern graduates possessing the 
necessary core essential competencies (CECs) required for hospitality success in their organizations.
Areas for further study include empirically testing the relationship between internship experiential 
education and exit performance, as this report represents opinion-based research. Also, an investigation into the 
potential impact of internship study concentrations and/or host affiliations on students’ exit competency levels 
would serve as an intriguing area for future research. Due to the regionally local sample group and low response 
rate, a common problem in hospitality research (LeBruto and Murrar, 1994), a replication study of national scale 
with adequate sampling size is also recommended for generalizablity. Furthermore, a larger sample group would 
allow for testing significant relationships restricted under this study.
This paper presents unique contributions to the existing body of knowledge on lodging internship 
competencies. Provided for educators is insight on the development and coordination of effective academic and 
practical learning environments for students. The findings of this study determine that students exiting internship 
programs are equipped with the core essential competencies (CECs) necessary to become successful hospitality 
leaders of tomorrow. Thus, to answer a commonly posed question by educators and industry professionals, alike 
(Petrillose and Montgomery, 1997/1998)--Do internship programs provide a legitimate academic exercise of long-
term benefit to the industry? --The answer is yes.