Updating the curriculum to meet the needs of the marketplace is one of the main issues facing most educational institutions. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the potential of a dual education program (DEP) as a type of work-based learning to link academia and industry, with a focus on the restaurant sector. The current research carried out a case study on the DEP launched by the College of Tourism and Hotels at Alexandria University. A qualitative study was employed, and the primary stakeholders—students, the university, and a restaurant company—were interviewed in-depth and through focus groups to retrieve data. 
The results demonstrate that DEP boosts graduates' functional skills and professional preparedness to a level that all stakeholders deem satisfactory. The results also highlight how well the DEP fosters collaborations between the university and the employer in the restaurant sector. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the necessity of tackling several obstacles to enhance the DEP's results. The research finally concluded that universities might better prepare graduates for the workforce, improve employability, and ultimately support wider economic development by applying DEP in place of traditional education. To properly apply DEP, the research offers useful implications for educational institutions and businesses alike.