Conclusion
This study confirmed the lack of industry-education linkage in the field of hospitality in the Vietnamese context. It identified the key factors behind an enhanced contribution of higher education to an expanding hospitality industry. The findings demonstrated that there were conflicts of interest among hospitality stakeholders, including the industry, higher education institutions, and higher education students. The industry-education relationship was found to be predominantly economically driven, with the operation of the hospitality industry dominated by preferences for students sourced from vocational education in relation to satisfying the immediate needs of the workplaces, i.e., students with well-developed basic operational level skills. The results of this study have important implications for the three stakeholder groups, and for policy makers. Students' negative perceptions, associated with their internship experiences in different aspects of hospitality workplaces, currently appear to result in detrimental consequences for higher education students, with many not planning on remaining in the hospitality sector. This has both short-term and longterm implications for hospitality employers, hospitality educational providers, and Vietnam's higher education system. These implications result in immediate workforce issues, limiting the higher-level skills available in the sector, and pressures on the higher education system to contribute to an increase in the international competitiveness of its sector – thus having implications for government and policy makers.
