SUMMER EDITION 2007 - Faculty of Business and Law - Victoria ...

SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY, TOURISM & MARKETING
What is The future for tourism, hospita
providers. Brian and Stephen found that there
is concern over the likely loss of teaching
expertise and corporate memory as many
educators from the baby boomer generation
retire from the higher education sector.
In November on the Gold Coast in
Queensland, Prof Brian King, Head,
School of Hospitality, Tourism &
Marketing at Victoria University,
and Assoc Prof Stephen Craig-Smith
of the University of Queensland
presented a report to members of
THE-ICE on the future of tourism,
hospitality and events education.
Brian and Stephen have been involved
in tourism and hospitality education in
Australia for more than 20 years and have
a good understanding of its evolution. They
recently conducted survey-based research to
investigate current issues confronting the sector
and to seek the views of key stakeholders,
including program directors, about likely future
challenges. These were presented in their
paper The Changing Landscape of Tourism
and Hospitality Education in Australia,
Challenges and Opportunities.
‘A substantial literature has emerged on the
birth and early development of tourism and
hospitality education,’ said Brian. ‘This is
indicative of the growing interest in evaluating
the progress that has been achieved.’ But as
Brian explained, less has been written on
the challenges and opportunities which lie
ahead and the likely shape of the sector into
the future.
Events education has emerged rapidly and
growth is likely to continue. ‘In our paper,
Stephen and I attempted to give some
attention to the likely role of events in the
future development of the sector. We want to
ensure a strong and healthy future for tourism,
hospitality and events education.’
The findings
The marketplace for undergraduate and
postgraduate programs is reaching saturation
point, prompting some institutions to rethink
their tourism and hospitality offerings. ‘They
are confronting an excessive dependence on
overseas students, particularly in postgraduate
coursework programs,’ Brian explained. ‘The
changing course preferences of domestic
students is prompting a shift to new areas
such as event management, sometimes at the
expense of existing programs in tourism and
hospitality,’ he went on.
Challenges are arising from moves into
degree level provision by the private sector
and by Vocational Education Training (VET)
Australia is a relative latecomer to
the provision of university tourism,
hospitality and events education
compared with other developed
countries such as the USA and
the UK. In spite of the slow start,
Australian education and research
has achieved an enviable
reputation over a relatively short
period. The number of Australian
undergraduate programs in
tourism, hospitality and events
education grew from two in the
early 1970s to 88 today and
the number of post-graduate
program offerings has reached
85, remarkable for a country with
a population of only 20 million.
Brian said that tourism and hospitality
education has achieved a lot over its
short history and Australian academics
and institutions have established a strong
reputation internationally. ‘CAUTHE
conferences enjoy an international following
and are recognised as the leading annual
tourism education and research conference
in the southern hemisphere,’ he went on.
‘The higher education tourism, hospitality
and event sector has grown and matured
and no longer depends on the recruitment of
staff from overseas.’ It is now an established
discipline in many universities and research
outputs are growing in both size and
reputation.
‘But there is however no room for
complacency and many challenges lie
ahead,’ cautioned Brian. According to the
research, the education sector is experiencing
diminishing per capita government funding
and is increasingly reliant on full fee paying
overseas students to maintain its viability.
‘The commonwealth government is promoting
diversity very actively in higher education.
This involves a shift from standardisation and
greater specialisation on the part of individual
universities, as well as greater private sector
provision,’ said Brian. ‘Private hotel schools
are distinct from the universities in terms of
the style of teaching and engagement with
industry. The move by private hotel schools
into degree provision presents a challenge for
established universities.’
Another emerging challenge is the support of
some state governments for the provision of
degrees by VET providers. Brian believes that
provision will be more diverse.
Brian also predicted that with domestic
tourism now declining in Australia and
showing little prospect for growth and
shrinking domestic demand for tourism
courses, we can expect to see some
shrinkage of university tourism degree
provision. ‘As the boundaries between higher
education, the private sector and TAFE
become increasingly blurred, articulation
and twinning arrangements will grow in
importance.’
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY