Perceptions of hospitality students towards engaging in hospitality based businesses : a case study of hospitality colleges in Nairobi

Undergraduate projectThis research is focused on finding out the perceptions of hospitality students towards business and factors that affect those perceptions. The study was conducted within colleges and universities that offer hospitality management courses in Nairobi. The study employed stratified systematic sampling techniques with a sample size of sixty seven students as the target population. Tools used were questionnaires and documentary survey to generate both qualitative and quantitative data. The data was analyzed and presented by manual and computer aided packages of Microsoft Excel. The results were presented through statistical figures such as histrograms, tables and pie charts. The study revealed that hospitality management students are strongly inclined to entrepreneurship but they are hindered by a number of both personality and environment related factors. The study established that such bottlenecks have compelled the hospitality students to take up low skilled jobs in the industry as opposed to pursuing successful careers in business. To reverse this trend, there is need to put in place supportive structures and policies both in government and learning institutions to nurture and spruce entrepreneurship culture among students in KenyaStrathmore Universit