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DEPARTMENT OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT The global hospitality and tourism industry, which blends the lodging, food, attractions, cultural and travel industries, is the world's largest industry with $4.5 trillion in expenditures generating 212 million jobs. The World Tourism Organization's current projection is by the year 2010, 338 million people will be employed in the industry that will grow to $8.4 trillion in expenditures. |
South Carolina's hospitality and tourism industry is a large and vital part of the state's economic mix. This sector accounts for $14.4 billion dollars in sales annually (64% of this realized by the coastal areas) and employs approximately 201,000 people. In the Charleston Metropolitan area, 1 of every 6 jobs (54,000) are in enterprise that serve the more than 5 million people who visit the region annually. The future growth potential of the hospitality and tourism industry looks bright. Bill Gates has identified tourism as one of his target areas for the next century as has John Naisbitt, of Megatrend fame, who sees it as a key component of the 21st-century economy. Our Mission We are committed to providing students a high quality comprehensive hospitality management education in a liberal arts environment supported by a progressive series of practical, applied, and experiential learning opportunities at one of the world's premiere destinations. We want every hospitality management student to become a life-long learner who is guest focused, ethical, innovative, globally aware, computer fluent and an effective communicator. In addition, they should be able to function collaboratively and comfortably in an environment characterized by diversity, uncertainty, and rapid change. The faculty of the Hospitality and Tourism Management department is also to be recognized as the region's foremost teacher/scholars focused on creating and disseminating information useful in managing and leading hospitality enterprises. We will accomplish this by:
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