ASEAN Journal on Hospitality and Tourism, Vol. 4, pp. 115-127 Printed in Indonesia. All rights reserved. 115 TURNOVER INTENTIONS OF MALAYSIAN HOTEL EMPLOYEES: THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND TRUST IN ORGANIZATION MOHAMAD ABDULLAH HEMDI Faculty of Hotel & Tourism Management Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia AIZZAT MOHD. NASURDIN School of Management Universiti Sains Malaysia Pulau Pinang, Malaysia INTRODUCTION The tourism business today is perhaps the most important industry in the world. It accounts for at least 6% of the world’s GDP and employs about 127 million people around the world (Holloway, 2002). This industry has been making significant contributions to the economic development of many coun- tries around the world. In Malaysia, the tourism industry has been performing extremely well in the Malaysian economy due to the influx of tourists to the country. Specifically, the number of tourists to Malaysia has increased from 7.93 million in 1999 to 13.90 million in 2004 (Annual Tourism Report 2004). In terms of foreign exchange earnings, tourism has moved from fifth position (amounting to Ringgit Malaysia 5.2 billion) in 1994 to second position in 2003 (amounting to Ringgit Malaysia 21.3 billion) (Annual Tourism Report 2004). Its contribution to the nation’s GNP has also expanded from 4.7% in 1994 to 7.2% in 2003 (Annual Tourism Report 2004). The influx of tourists to the country has also resulted in an increase in the number of hotels. For instance, in 1993, there were 1,090 hotels as Although numerous studies on turnover intentions have been undertaken in the past, none have systematically investigated the relationships between employees’ perceptions of HRM practices, their attitude towards the organization (trust in organization), and their behavioral intentions (turnover intentions). Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the impact of employees’ perceptions of their organization’s human resource management (HRM) practices on their turnover intentions. The influence of trust in the organization as a mediator in the proposed relationship is also examined. Survey data were gathered from operational employees attached to large hotels in Malaysia. 380 usable questionnaires were used in the statistical analyses. The results indicated that the hypothesized linkage between HRM practices and trust in organization as well as between HRM practices and turnover intentions were partially supported. The mediating role of trust in organization was also partially supported. Implications and limitations of the findings are specified. Finally, directions for future research are suggested. HRM practices, trust, hotel, turnover intentions Address correspondence to Mohamad Abdullah Hemdi, Hotel & Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor Malaysia. Email: moham984@salam.uitm.edu.my