Hospitality Inclusive Internship System (HIIS): An Innovative Internship Matching Platform for Person with Disabilities (PWD) Students

The hospitality industry thrives on diversity and service excellence, yet students with diverse abilities continue to face barriers in accessing fair internship opportunities. These challenges include limited accessibility, inadequate supervisory support, and industry misconceptions, resulting in unequal participation and under-representation in hospitality careers. Despite the importance of inclusivity, most internship systems remain fragmented and lack tailoring to accommodate students with disabilities. To address this gap, the Hospitality Inclusive Internship System (HIIS) was developed as a centralised digital platform designed to connect universities, industry partners, and students through a structured and inclusive matchmaking mechanism. Key features include a student profiling module to record academic background and accessibility needs, industry modules to access workplace readiness, automated matching with supervisor verification, digital logbooks for reflective learning, and accessibility tools such as screen readers and voice-to-text support. Data was gathered and analysed for ten (10) students with disabilities (PWD), including visual, hearing, cognitive and mobility, undergoing the hospitality program to evaluate the HIIS usability, accessibility, and confidence levels. The findings show that the system is improving access to equitable internships, enhancing students' confidence, and supporting universities in coordinating placements more effectively. HIIS also enhances industry awareness of inclusivity practices and has the potential to scale industries, ensuring long-term impact and sustainability.