Factors Affecting Chinese Students’ Selection of Tourism and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Programs

While China has long been recognized as the primary target market for all tertiary institutions, existing knowledge about factors affecting Chinese students’ choice of tourism and hospitality management (THM) undergraduate programs is surprisingly scarce. The primary objective of this study is to identify key determinants affecting Chinese students’ selection of THM undergraduate programs. Drawing on data provided by Chinese high school graduates who plan to pursue higher education majoring in THM, this study finds Chinese students consider push factors and particularly career prospects, program quality, and career support as highly important factors when they select THM undergraduate programs. Pull factors, such as financial capability and social influence (e.g. advice from friends), are comparatively less influential in Chinese students’ program choice. The robustness of the results is ascertained after cross-comparing the results from data collected before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. The resulting knowledge of this study provides a good foundation for universities’ management to formulate sound marketing strategies that appeal to prospective applicants from China.