International Journal of Education and Research Vol. 3 No. 1 January 2015 191 COMPETENCIES INDEX DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF MALAYSIAN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY GRADUATES Nurhazani Mohd Shariff 1 , Kalsom Kayat 2 , Noor Azimin Zainol 3 and Azlan Zainol Abidin 4 1,2,3 School of Tourism, Hospitality & Environmental Management, College of Law, Government & International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia 4 School of Accounting, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia Corresponding Author: Email: hazani@uum.edu.my; Tel: 6012-556 9004 Acknowledgement: The study is financially sponsored under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Ministry of Higher Education MALAYSIA.