Each student within the academy will take two, 9-week courses each year, this may be either the first or second semester. Each of these classes hold an honors weight. AOHT Courses only take one slot per year on any registration card. This allows our students to have the flexibility to be a part of addition programs that Lee County High School offers.
Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
This course provides an overview of the current hospitality and tourism industry and serves as the foundation for the core courses offered by NAF’s Academy of Hospitality & Tourism. Students take a brief look at the history of the industry to understand the degree to which it has changed in the past century. They learn about traveler motivation and consumer needs and how these factors affect current offerings in the lodging, transportation, food and beverage, and entertainment sectors. Students consider the economic and environmental impacts of the industry on the world today. They receive exposure to the wide array of domestic and international travel. Finally, students learn the basics of selling and marketing in tourism.
Delivering Great Customer Service
This course introduces students to the concept of service as a critical component of a hospitality or tourism business. It combines current theory and practice with observations of customer service in action, role-play, and critical analysis of models. Topics include trends, the psychology of interactions between customers and providers, the phases of customer service, common mistakes, internal customer service, management, and customer feedback. Students begin to appreciate how the quality of customer service has wide-ranging implications for all professional endeavors.
Geography for Tourism
This course introduces students to the importance of geography in the hospitality and tourism industry through the study of travel or “destination” geography. Students explore the world’s geographic regions, focusing on the factors that create desirable travel destinations: weather and climate, physical features, cultural elements, historical interest, and tourist attractions. Students study the ways that the tourism industry promotes destinations, and they learn about current trends in travel.
Professional Ethics
This course provides a solid understanding of why ethics is important in every profession. After an introduction to several philosophies that inform ethics today, students explore the characteristics of an ethical professional. Students consider the range of dilemmas faced by managers and employees in the workplace. They learn about the qualities of effective leaders and the tools modern professionals use to instill an ethical workplace culture. Throughout the course, students have opportunities to refine their personal sense of ethics as they begin to build an ethical foundation for their professional future.
Event Planning
This course introduces students to the skills and knowledge required in the event planning profession. Topics include aligning events with client goals, budgeting and bidding, sustainable practices, venue selection and management, personnel considerations, marketing, and sports sponsorship. Students learn about sports and entertainment events as well as special and professional events. Students consider the role of events in the larger context of communities and society. They realize how important events are to the health or revitalization of regions around the world and how they are an integral component of tourism.
Hospitality Marketing
Hospitality Marketing introduces students to the objectives, strategies, and tools that are important to marketing in the hospitality industry, expanding on topics introduced in Principles of Hospitality and Tourism. Students become familiar with each phase of marketing and with strategies to build business and brand equity, for both large-scale operations (such as hotel chains) and smaller businesses (such as restaurants). They learn how to assess marketing niches, understand customer and consumer needs, and conduct basic market research. As students study the benefits and potential drawbacks of various marketing channels, they develop an integrated marketing campaign that uses a range of appropriate marketing channels.
Sustainable Tourism
This course introduces students to the profound changes taking place worldwide in the tourism industry. Students examine the environmental and socioeconomic impacts and interrelationships of tourism, as well as the transition to a greener tourism economy. They explore the ramifications of tourism development in terms of increased sustainability, profitability, and benefits to the surrounding communities, and they examine ecotourism as a model for sustainability.
Principles of Finance
This is the first course students take in the Academy of Finance and introduces students to the financial world. Students develop financial literacy as they learn about the function of finance in society. They study income and wealth; examine financial institutions; learn how businesses raise capital; and study key investment-related terms and concepts. They also research how innovations have changed the financial services field. Finally, students explore careers that exist in finance today.