The Effectiveness of Student Internship Program in Supporting Tourism Data Administration and Management in the NTB Tourism and Creative Economy Office

Abstract

The internship program is an essential component of competency-based higher education, serving as a bridge between theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the workplace. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of student internship programs in supporting administrative tasks and tourism data management at the Tourism and Creative Economy Office of West Nusa Tenggara Province. The research employs a descriptive qualitative approach through direct observation, field experience, and relevant literature review. The findings indicate that the internship program significantly contributes to improving students’ competencies, both in terms of hard skills such as office administration, data management, and tourism information digitalization and soft skills, including communication, adaptability, discipline, and teamwork. Students also gain practical insights into bureaucratic systems and the management of creative economy programs. From the institutional perspective, the presence of interns enhances work efficiency, particularly in document archiving, data recapitulation, and information services. However, several challenges were identified, including students’ initial adaptation to the work environment, administrative workload, and limitations in mentoring and monitoring systems. Therefore, improvements are needed in pre-internship preparation, supervision, and program planning to optimize implementation.