COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M University has announced that its Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences department is evolving into the school's brand-new Hospitality, Hotel Management, and Tourism department.
"The hospitality industry is part of the world of business, but it also has a community dimension," Department Head Dr. Brian King said. "Think of a kind of business studies and a social science element. The courses contain a mixture of these two things."
The new department will offer three new undergraduate degree tracks in hospitality, hotel management, and tourism. Starting this fall, incoming students will be able to join the new program with the option of receiving a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate degree.
"Existing students at Texas A&M, we've got quite a large cohort that are shifting into this field from others," King said. "We've got those that started in the previous department and will be completing their studies with us, and then we've got good demand for freshmen as well."
Dr. King says the hotel and resort sector is a rapidly growing part of the economy globally and in the Lone Star State. According to Hanover Research, employment in the industry is set to grow 6.3% nationally and 17.2% in Texas over the next 10 years.
"There are many well-known brands that are operating again here and all over the world," King said. "They are hungry, particularly after the pandemic to recruit top talent that can help take the industry to the next level."
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