An investigation of technological competence for guest service agent trainees in the hotel business

Abhinan Wongkittiporn

African Educational Research Journal
Published: April 17 2026
Volume 14, Issue 2
Pages 390-398
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19633417

Abstract

It seems that different professions require different technological competence to support the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. When visiting companies to evaluate the fourth-year students’ internship program, the companies gave feedback that the students lacked IT skills. This lack leads one to investigate a needs analysis of technological competence and use of digital tools for guest service agent (GSA) trainees in five-star hotels. This study was qualitative research. The participants in this study were ten fourth-year students, majoring in English for Business Communication, who joined the internship program as GSA interns for nine months. The sampling method was a snowball technique where an interviewee recommended the next interviewee working in the same field. The participants in this study received training certificates, their lecturers’ evaluation, and a letter grade in the internship subject from a Thai public university. The instrument of the study was a semi-structured interview validated by three experts from different universities. The data analysis was thematic. Findings reveal that GSA interns need four themes of their technological competence. There is technological competence of property management systems, hardware and payment systems, AI-Assisted communication, and technological competence to support their interdepartmental coordination. For pedagogical implications, providing one-day concentrated training about these IT skills would reduce their anxiety to be able to work as GSA trainees from their first day. Thus, training in IT and the use of digital tools for the positions of GSA trainees in hotels ensures readiness before participating in their job internship program. As a consequence, the anxiety of GSA trainees in hotels could be reduced, and the effectiveness of their work in the position would increase.

Keywords: Technological competence, guest service agent (GSA) trainees, hotel business, internship program, five-star hotels.

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