About the Project
Tourism, hospitality and events are major components of Australia's service sector. The diversity and complexity of these sectors in capital cities and in regional areas make it difficult to estimate with any degree of confidence the real value of these sectors to Australia's economic and social development.Tourism, hospitality and events have been described as hallmark activities of our modern, global world. These sectors are 'world-making' change agents in the sense that they shape how people perceive places, and how cultures understand one another. Tourism, hospitality and events can also add value to environmental conservation, promote peace and tolerance, empower communities and contribute to improving social well-being. But these benefits require strategic management and a commitment to world-making values.This expansion in the way tourism, hospitality and events is positioned highlights the need for greater attention to both vocational and higher education. Australia needs highly skilled front line hotel, hospitality and events workers and it needs creative, visionary managers. In this context, this project examines tourism, hospitality and events education undergraduate education.
What constitutes a tourism, hospitality or events undergraduate education?
This question has received widespread attention across the world with significant debate focusing on issues such as core knowledge requirements, practical skills, graduate outcomes and accreditation.
In Australia, despite having a range of well-established and internationally recognised degrees for over 20 years, there is still little clarity over what constitutes a tourism, hospitality or events degree, or what such a degree should deliver.
Project aim and objectives
The aim of this project is to map the tourism, hospitality and events curriculum space
and to build a foundation of information from which we can start to discuss important issues about curriculum design, content, delivery, academic standards and graduate outcomes.
The objectives of the project are to:
Promote better understandings about the global-local context
Conceptualise and map the tourism, hospitality and events curriculum space
Develop baseline data about programs and curriculum space
Explore and document stakeholder interests and values
Inform discussions about the future of tourism, hospitality and events education
A collaborative stakeholder approach
The project is underpinned by a commitment to establishing collaborative dialogue between industry, higher education and the academic community about the future of tourism and hospitality education and practice. It also responds to a raft of policy developments that are having transcendental impacts on international and Australian higher education environments. The project is founded on respect for the diversity of tourism and hospitality degree offerings and the independence and autonomy of higher education institutions, and responds to the growing need for a collective vision for tourism, hospitality and events in Australian higher education.Want to find out more?
For further information and project reports can be found on the project download page about the project, or please contact a member of the Project Team.
Funding for this project has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views expressed on this website and materials associated with the project do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia License.