The new Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism at the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has made significant progress in its first year in meeting the needs of students and the hospitality and tourism industries in Texas and beyond.
In 2023, the faculty was renamed and restructured. The former Faculty of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences was originally a faculty that had a nearly 60-year tradition of internationally recognized excellence in resource management, tourism and leisure sciences.
The goal of the department is to provide a transformative educational experience that prepares a new generation of leaders in the hospitality, hotel management and tourism industries. To achieve this goal, new faculty with extensive professional and academic experience have been hired, new undergraduate degree programs have been added, internship opportunities have been expanded and new relationships have been established with industries in which graduates will pursue careers.
Jeffrey W. Savell, Ph.D., vice chancellor and dean of agricultural and biological sciences, said the school’s name change reflects an expanded, science-based focus on enhancing the human experience of the world.
“This new focus and additional areas of expertise increase our ability to understand and promote the relationships between people, our environment and our economy,” Savell said. “There is no better place than Texas A&M to study and experience hospitality.”
Expertise in hospitality and tourism
Department chair Brian King, Ph.D., said the past year’s efforts have enabled faculty and students to capitalize on growth trends in the hospitality and tourism industry and apply their expertise to areas where they can make a positive impact at the state, national and global levels.
New faculty members have been hired from around the world to complement existing faculty and expand expertise in hospitality and tourism.
“We have selected and hired faculty with diverse expertise and research interests to take a holistic approach that meets the needs of our students and industry,” King said. “And while we pay special attention to new and emerging topics in hospitality and tourism, we continue to focus on the core areas that have served as the foundation of the department.”
New Bachelor’s degree programs
Last year, the department also added three new bachelor’s degree programs in hospitality, hotel management and tourism – Hotel and Resort Management, Business Hospitality, and Event, Tourism and Leisure Management.
The Business Hospitality degree program is a unique curriculum that allows students to take courses both in the department and at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School.
“By adding new degree programs, we are offering our students more opportunities to pursue their academic interests and align them with their career goals,” King said.
To give students more insight into the academic work and research of the department, a Hospitality and Tourism Scholars Symposium was held earlier this year. The symposium gave students the opportunity to participate in scholarly exchanges with leading researchers from across the country and within the College, particularly those with academic or professional links to aspects of hospitality and tourism.
Improved practical learning through industry collaborations
King said a key goal of the department is to strengthen relationships with industry and community partners both in Texas and around the world.
He attributes the ability to provide students with a robust and comprehensive learning approach that includes internships, hands-on involvement in event management, study abroad opportunities, and other ways to gain insight into the field to existing and new collaborations with industry organizations, community colleges, donors, and others.
“Over the past year, the department has expanded its internship partnerships to provide students with more opportunities to experience the relationship between classroom theory and practical applications,” he said. “This approach allows them to acquire and develop the skills and competencies needed to transition into full-time positions in hospitality or related occupations.”
King said one of the key initiatives has been closer collaboration with the hotel industry, as evidenced by the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center on the Texas A&M campus in College Station. Operated by Pyramid Global Hospitality, the facility offers students paid operational and supervisory internships in Texas, the U.S. and internationally across its portfolio of more than 240 hotel and resort properties.
Another example is the department’s connection with Miramont Country Club in Bryan, which offers internships that give students a comprehensive look at club management and how each dimension of the business enriches the club member experience.
King said that in addition to collaboration with the industry, the generosity of donors has helped provide opportunities for students, including a Disney Hospitality Operations Trip with Walt Disney, educational trips to the Caribbean, Scotland and England, and, for the first time, study abroad in Antarctica.
Strategic advice from an advisory board
Under such relationships, King said, the partners will act as industry-based educators, providing instruction and mentoring to interns in various business departments to enable them to acquire and develop professional skills.
To further strengthen ties with the industry, the department has established an advisory board to provide strategic advice and expert guidance in developing new partnerships. Robert “Hunter” Goodwin, who chairs the advisory board, is owner, COO and director of hospitality at Oldham Goodwin Group LLC in Bryan-College Station.
“The advisory board is a tool for the department to use in setting and achieving its goals,” Goodwin said. “We want to leverage the reputation of the former department and Texas A&M University as a whole and expand it into new areas such as hospitality, hotel management and tourism. Our efforts include building new partnerships and reaching out to parents, teachers, career counselors and youth to make them aware of career opportunities in hospitality and tourism.”
A look into the future
King said a new cohort of top graduate students arrived this summer to support new research opportunities as the department’s scientists expand their reach and explore new areas such as wellness, sustainability, the use of artificial intelligence and post-COVID-19 travel.
“In the next year, we will hire three more new professors with expertise in various areas of hospitality, hotel management and tourism,” he said. “One of our primary goals in bringing together faculty resources with diverse expertise is to mobilize the visitor economy in Texas and generate worldwide interest and recognition. This also helps solidify our approach in research, outreach and teaching, and opens doors for our faculty members and students to advance our core areas and the hospitality and tourism industries.”
For more information about the Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism, visit https://hmgt.tamu.edu/.
