FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Sacred Heart University’s Jack Welch College of Business (WCOB) is establishing a new bachelor’s degree in hospitality, resort and tourism management. The program will begin in fall 2018.
“The hospitality and tourism industry is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world,” says John Chalykoff, WCOB dean. “Many adventurous opportunities are emerging in this field, with a number of different career options across the world, such as management positions in restaurants, hotels, resorts, wineries and spas. This program will provide students a solid business core and entryway into this $3.5 trillion industry.”
The hospitality and tourism industry is the second largest employer in the U.S. after the federal government and includes a number of interrelated businesses such as airlines, clubs and resorts, cruise lines, event planning, lodging, restaurants, theme parks and travel agents, among others.
Sacred Heart’s program will offer three specializations: hotel, resort and club management; tourism management; and revenue, pricing, and data analytics management. Each will involve a business core curriculum.
Based in Fairfield County and close to the New York City metropolitan area, the program will include industry-related experiential learning, with opportunities for internships at the Great River Golf Course in Milford and SHU’s recently acquired General Electric property in Fairfield (West Campus), as well as Dingle, Ireland. This type of experiential learning is highly sought after by employers and will make students competitive in this market. .
“Tourism and hospitality are such exciting careers, and they’re challenging as well,” says Jennifer Tombaugh, president of Tauck Travel in Wilton. “Not only do you have to have a genuine passion for serving others, but you also have to have the training and skills to ensure those efforts yield results. The real-world internship experiences offered by the SHU program will be an invaluable benefit that will far exceed those of other competitive programs. Students will graduate with a world-class education and will be far and away better prepared for the job market.”
Ken Siegel, president at Diamond Resorts International and former chief administrative officer and general counsel of Starwood, says SHU “has the key ingredients to create a robust, hospitality-themed curriculum.”
John Vazquez, senior vice president of Global Real Estate at Verizon, says, “The degree from SHU will be a real-world, practical application of theoretical data, revenue and pricing analytic concepts to current hospitality, tourism and corporate real estate. It truly will offer students a competitive advantage in the workplace today. This is the type of program I look to hire from for Verizon.”
Chuck Imhof, vice president of sales at Delta, adds, “The travel and tourism industry is vital to any country’s economic growth and prosperity. It is a rewarding and fulfilling career with unlimited ‘open doors of opportunity’. As Delta continues its global transformation, we look to identify and hire the very best talent. It is vital we educate young people on the exciting possibilities of our industry. We applaud the Jack Welch College of Business for offering a curriculum dedicated to hospitality, resort and tourism management.”
For more information on the Hospitality, Resort and Tourism Management Program, including course work, visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/academics/jackwelchcollegeofbusiness/undergraduateprograms/hospitalityresortandtourismmanagement/.
PHOTO: Sacred Heart University’s Great River Golf Club in Milford.