Pamplin College of Business

Hospitality and Tourism Management

Overview

Choosing a career in the hospitality field means becoming involved in one of the nation's largest industries. The opportunities for employment are broad in scope, and graduates are actively recruited each year by numerous hospitality firms. Management positions are available with hotels, motels, restaurants, contract food service companies, convention bureaus, private clubs, travel and tourism organizations, resorts, theme parks, and corporations. The most important qualities necessary for success in this field are an interest in management, enjoyment in working with people, and the drive to meet the challenges of this dynamic industry.

This major is designed to prepare business students for successful careers in the Hospitality and Tourism Industries. The program core courses focus on hospitality operations and advanced applications of business principles and strategies to the unique challenges of hospitality and tourism management. Students can choose areas of emphasis in Hospitality Operations Management, Restaurant and Food Management, Meetings and Event Management, Global Tourism Management, and Club and Resort Management. The curriculum includes substantive work experience requirements through internships in the industry. Many students work with the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center on campus or with other hospitality firms throughout Virginia, the USA, and, in some cases, in foreign countries. Study abroad and work experience opportunities exist in England, Australia, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

In addition to fulfilling the college of business requirements for the first two years and the core upper-division business requirements, each student must meet the following course requirements and a total of 125 semester hours to graduate:

HTM 3414 Purchasing, Production and Management	(4)
HTM 3444 Financial Mgt. & Cost Control for Hospitality Org.	(3)
FIN 3055 Legal Environment in Business	(3)
HTM 3524 Lodging Management	(3)
HTM 4414 Food and Beverage Management	(3)
HTM 4454 Hospitality Revenue Management	(3)
HTM 4464 Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry	(3)
HTM 4964 Field Study	(3)
Plus 6 hours of the following– 3 hours must be at the 3000 level or above:
HTM 2434 Hospitality Sales	(3)
HTM 2454 Travel & Tourism Management (satisfies Area 7)	(3)
HTM 2464 Introduction to Service (fulfills 2nd Social Science course)	(3)
HTM 2474 Intro to Meeting and Convention Management	(3)
HTM 2514 Catering Management	(3)
HTM 2954 Study Abroad	(3)
HTM 2964 Field Study	(3)
HTM 3044 Private Club Management	(3)
HTM 3114 Special Topics	(3)
HTM 3454 Tourism Analysis	(3)
HTM 3464 Hospitality & Tourism Research Methods I	(3)
HTM 3474 Hospitality Facilities Planning and Management	(3)
HTM 3484 Socio-Cultural Impacts of Tourism (satisfies Area 3)	(3)
HTM 3954 Study Abroad	(3)
HTM 4424 Events Management	(3)
HTM 4444 Winery Tourism	(3)

A sequence of 2 foreign language courses is required for graduation unless 2 high school credits of the same foreign language or 6 transfer hours credit of foreign language have been earned. These credits do not count toward graduation.

Satisfactory Progress

Prior to enrolling in junior business courses, students must have earned at least 60 semester hours; have a GPA of 2.0 or better in the combined series in MATH, ACIS, BIT, and ECON courses with no grade lower than a C- in any of these courses; and have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better for all coursework. To graduate, students must have an overall GPA of at least 2.0 and an in-major GPA of at least 2.0.

Undergraduate Courses (HTM)

1414: INTRODUCTION TO HOTEL, RESTAURANT, AND INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT
Management in the hospitality industry, its scope, forms of organization, and professional opportunities. (3H,3C) II.

2434: HOSPITALITY SALES
A comprehensive study of the management of the sales function and its role in the overall financial performance of hospitality operations. (3H,3C)

2454: TRAVEL & TOURISM MANAGEMENT
Survey of travel and tourism in the United States and abroad with a focus on terminology, demographics, economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts of tourism and travel, and the industry's management issues in a global context. (3H,3C)

2464: INTRODUCTION TO SERVICE
An overview of the service industry, history, current status, and future trends.  Emphasizes the unique characteristics and operations of service organizations. (3H,3C)

2474: INTRODUCTION TO MEETINGS & CONVENTION MANAGEMENT
A study of the meetings and convention industry.  Focus on the components and processes involved in developing and conducting meetings and conventions. (3H,3C)

2514: CATERING MANAGEMENT
Introduces students to various venues in which catering services can be offered, and presents an overview of the functions, processes, and controls found in successful catering management and operations; emphasis is placed on the sales/marketing aspects of the business. (3H,3C)

2954: HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM STUDY ABROAD
This course provides students with an international hospitality and tourism management business experience. It is only offered as part of a program outside the United States.  Students will learn from the structured educational experience developed by the faculty directing the study abroad program.  This course can be taken twice for a maximum of six credit hours.  Sophomore standing and a minimum GPA of 3.0 required. (3H,3C)

2964: FIELD STUDY
X-grade allowed. (3H,3C)

2974: INDEPENDENT STUDY
Variable credit course.

2984: SPECIAL STUDY
Variable credit course.

3044: PRIVATE CLUB MANAGEMENT
Develop an understanding of the private club sector of the hospitality industry.  Topic areas are divided into club fundamentals, revenue-generating operations within clubs and support functions/departments of club operations. Junior standing as well as background courses in basic financial management are suggested.  II (3H,3C)

3114: SPECIAL TOPICS IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM STUDIES
Variable content that addresses timely and complex issues of the hospitality and tourism industry from a variety of disciplines or intellectual domains.  This course provides HTM students with knowledge that is not formally part of the curriculum.  Students will learn from the structured learning experience and knowledge domain developed by the faculty offering the course.  May be repeated up to five times, for a maximum of 15 credit hours with different content. Pre: 1414 or 2454 or 2464. (3H,3C)

3414: PURCHASING, PRODUCTION, AND MANAGEMENT
Purchasing, preparation, service, and management of a large quantity food service operation. X-grade allowed. (2H,6L,4C)

3444: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND COST CONTROL FOR HOSPITALITY ORGANIZATIONS
The application of accounting, finance, and cost control principles to hospitality industry organizations.  The focus if this course is to provide future food service and lodging organization managers with the ability to handle the unique problems regarding financial analysis and cost control in this industry. Pre: ACIS 2116, ECON 2006. Co: FIN 3104. (3H,3C) I,II.

3454: TOURISM ANALYSIS
Different aspects of tourism, including origin and destination flow models, tourism destinations and their attractiveness, impacts of tourism, tourist profiles and destination decisions, demand/supply interaction, and barriers to travel are explored and analyzed. (3H,3C)

3474: HOSPITALITY FACILITIES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Layout and design for efficient management of hospitality facilities. Organization and management of a facilities maintenance system and preventive maintenance and energy management programs. Junior Standing. Pre: 3414. (3H,3C) I,II.

3484: SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM
A study of both historic and current socio-cultural impacts of tourism on family, community, culture, government, and the environment. The course examines the ways in which tourism has both affected and been affected by modern society worldwide. (3H,3C)

3524: LODGING MANAGEMENT
Organization, function, and management of lodging operations.  Current issues and management challenges in the lodging industry.  Applications of revenue management to lodging systems. Pre-requisite: Junior standing in the Pamplin College of Business. (3H,3C)

3954: HTM STUDY ABROAD
This course provides students with an international hospitality and tourism management business experience. Students will be required to apply their knowledge and skills from their Pamplin College of Business core courses within this course.  Students will learn from the structured educational experience developed by the faculty directing the study abroad program.  Pamplin College of Business majors must have been approved for upper division course- work. Variable credit course.

4414: FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANAGEMENT
Organization, administration, and operation of food service operations. Opportunity is provided for administration of the departmental cafeteria. X-grade allowed. Pre: 3414. (3H,3C) I,II.

4424: EVENTS MANAGEMENT
Management of special events in the hospitality and tourism industry. Students will explore organizational functions necessary for producing special events, as well as analyzing the factors that influence an event's success, such as organizational structure, risk management and the impact of tourism activity.  Junior standing in HTM is required. (3H,3C)

4444: WINERY TOURISM
The course focuses on the role of wine and wineries in tourism, wine marketing and management in the hospitality industry, and examines the components of a winery.  Students must be 21 years of age due to the inclusion of wine tasting in the course. (3H,3C)

4454: HOSPITALITY MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Examines lodging and foodservices Revenue Management (RM) issues. Customer-centric approach, explores RM from various traditional academic perspectives, including economics, pricing, forecasting, consumer behavior, accounting, finance, and human resources. Management-oriented, emphasizes practical aspects of decision-making. Applies theoretical concepts through class discussion, group projects and individual assignments. Pre: MKTG 3104 or MKTG 3104H. (3H,3C)

4464: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
An overview of the concepts of human resources management as applied to the specific environments within the hospitality industry. Pre: MGT 3304. (3H,3C) I,II.

4964: FIELD STUDY IN HTM
X-grade allowed. Pre: (3414, 3524) or (3414, 3444) or (3254, 3444). (3H,3C)

4974: INDEPENDENT STUDY
Variable credit course.

4984: SPECIAL STUDY
Variable credit course.

4994: UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Variable credit course.

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