The Impact Of The Internship Program At The Laguna Garden Hotel (Okinawa, Japan)

The hospitality industry in Okinawa (Japan) has been going through a major transformation during the past decade and the Laguna Garden Hotel, an urban resort hotel located in close proximity to the beach facing the East China Sea, has been greatly impacted by this change. In the mid-1990s, the local tourist population consisted mostly of domestic visitors coming from mainland Japan, visitors expecting standardized processes and services similar to the ones offered in other parts of the country. In 2018, an annual average of 68% of tourists were coming from countries other than Japan (according to the Okinawa Conventions and Visitors’Bureau), seeking hospitality services compatible with international standards.The internship program introduced by the Laguna Garden Hotel in August 1995 has benefited the organization in facing changes in the market. The incoming interns, mainly students of Romanian origin, have contributed to the cultural change of the organization by supporting both executives and staff in revamping talent operations, organizational architecture and assuming an intercultural mindset. The executives at the Laguna Garden Hotel have regularly monitored the cultural change process induced and continued by the incoming interns. As a result, although there have been numerous changes in the operating organization and the board of executives, the internship program has continued without interruption for more than two decades.This research focuses on a major period of transformation: the beginning of the program in the summer of 1995.