Focus at Four: New department of hospitality, tourism & hotel management at Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Tourism and travel are critical to both the Texas economy and local economies, and also account for one in five jobs in the state of Texas, according to Governor Greg Abbott.
According to Hanover Research, employment in hospitality and hotel management is projected to grow over the next 10 years to 6.3% nationally and 17.2% in Texas.
Effective August 15, Texas A&M University will become a new source of hospitality in our community.
“In our community, hospitality is a real economic driver,” said Brian King, Department Head and Professor. “In Texas, employment in this sector is growing incredibly fast and it’s a global phenomenon as well, so our graduates will have the chance to work all over the world.
The university was granted approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to offer a new department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism.
“Our university is very well established in tourism and a global leader for almost 60 years,” said King. “But hospitality is something a little bit newer for us, so think of hospitality as the missing piece that we’re adding and this is an exciting, new initiative for the university.”
A&M will offer three degree tracks including, Hospitality in Hotel Management, Business Hospitality as well as Event Tourism and Recreation Management.
The department will be renamed and rebranded from what was formerly the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences.
You can watch our full interview with Dr. King in the video player above.
