INTRODUCTION | nkuhtitm

Introduction to the department

The International Bachelor Program in Tourism Management (ITM) at National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism (NKUHT) is the first government founded educational institution specializing in international travel and tourism related fields. The establishment of ITM is based on the four principle mottos of NKUHT: Professionalism, Entrepreneurship, Globalization, and Humanity. The program aims to cultivate professionalism knowledge and essential skills, as well as to instill positive work attitudes and an international perspective in the future of tourism management. It is designed to combine both theory and international experience, including a one-year “paid industrial internship”, one of the unique features of our program.

The Features of ITM Program include:

1. All the professional courses are taught in English (Excluding General Education)

2. Overseas exchange opportunities from partnership schools

- North America and Europe: Humber College in Canada, Hotel School the Hague in Netherland, University of Southern

Florida in US, University of College Birmingham in UK

- Asia and Middle-East: Thonburi University and Silpakorn University in Thailand, Emirates Academy of Hospitality

Management in Dubai

3. Professional classrooms and facilities

- Two theme-based professional classrooms

- Global Tourism Distribution and Sale System Education Center; Gaming Research Center

- Elite House; Bravo Room & Formosa Hall; Professional Kitchens

4. Off-campus field trip and guest speakers from the industry

5. Oversea / Domestic internship opportunity (one year): partners are including Eva Air, Cathay Pacific, Taiwan High Speed

Rail, W Hotel Taipei, Marriott Hotel Taipei, Five-Star Hotels in Singapore, Dubai, Macau, and Thailand

6. Small-size classes with diverse international student population

7. Internationalized curriculum combining with professional certificates

8. Overseas trip (10-12 days)

The four-year program leads to the degree of bachelor in Business Administration. International students at this program are required to take Mandarin as their required language course.

Educational Objectives

1. Educational philosophy

The educational philosophy of the International Bachelor Program in Tourism Management is based on the university’s educational philosophy and tenets and targets an all-inclusive education. It engages in instruction and industry-university cooperation to cultivate professional talents with international views and business ethics demanded for the sound construction of the nation, society, tourism development and individual potentials. Furthermore, it proposes the value of serving humanity to promote the internationalization of the nation, society and business.

2. Educational objectives

It is believed that the university will establish an international college in 2012. To implement the goal of internationalization of the university’s hospitality education, the school will admit international and domestic students to study together in order to cultivate professional hospitality skills with international views and competitiveness and to forge a world leading hospitality learning environment within an international structure. The international college features in its development the top foreign languages, practice as foundation, international views and overseas experience. To achieve this target, the school has planned to implement outstanding foreign language abilities and the philosophy of practice teaching to promote overseas practice, enroll international students, enhance cultivation of professional attitudes and team spirit and cultivate foreign language abilities in the tourism and hospitality fields with international competitiveness, as well as enhance students’ international employment and competitiveness of the university.

3. International Bachelor Program in Tourism Management

This program was officially established in the 2010 academic year with the expectation of cultivating students’ English learning abilities through complete English instruction of professional courses while obtaining the latest world information and professional knowledge. As for course arrangement, in order to respond to the Ministry of Education’s policy to encourage students’ diverse development, the university established four cross-field technical bachelor’s programs. Depending on the experience and knowledge of teachers engaged in the professional field for many years, the school creates a diversified learning environment and resources for students with an international program that allows students immerse themselves deep into the tourism and hospitality industry to improve international competitiveness and establish the international program of the university as a leader in tourism and hospitality education. Upholding the tenets of the international program and coping with external environmental reforms and the trends of hospitality and tourism, the program will cultivate students to be talented tourism marketing professionals with international competitiveness and professional service skills in the international tourism industry.

(1) Professional talents in international tourism service

Outstanding talented service professionals in the tourism industry can provide tourists fine service, experiences and memories and can improve customers’ satisfaction. This program will cultivate talented professionals with a background of tourism service and a practical base. In extensive tourism industries resulting from tourism promotion, relevant tourism service industries will more effectively improve the operational fluency, the integrated service experience and satisfaction, all of which increase the return rate of customers and maximize industry profit.

(2) Talented Professionals in international tourism marketing

This program will cultivate talented tourism marketing professionals with a macro international view. On the basis of building tourism knowledge, it stresses developing an international market to increase the additional value of various tourism industries and assist businesses relevant to tourism stand out from the crowd of an international tourism market full of flourishing enterprises.

4. Cultivation of students with eight core abilities

The eight core abilities are as follows: professional knowledge, question resolution, language communication, technical service, administrative management, international vision, career planning and activity planning. All the courses are designed around the basis of the above mentioned eight core abilities.

Future Development

International College

It is believed that the university will establish an international college in 2012. To implement the university’s goal of internationalization of hospitality education, it will admit international and domestic students to study together in order to cultivate talented hospitality professionals with international views and competitiveness and to forge a world leading hospitality learning environment in an international structure. The international college features the development of top foreign languages, practice as foundation, international views and overseas work. To achieve this target, it has planned to implement outstanding foreign language capacities and the philosophy of practice teaching to promote overseas practice, enroll international students, enhance the cultivation of professional attitudes and team spirit and cultivate foreign language abilities in the tourism and hospitality fields with international competitiveness, as well as enhance students’ international employment opportunities and competitiveness of the university.

Students’ Ability

The program matches the university’s entire plan and emphasizes the combination of theory and practice. As for course arrangement, it focuses on theory and practical skills to cultivate students’ basic professional skills in tourism and hospitality and encourages students to obtain the relevant certificates demanded in the workplace. Furthermore, it reaches the goal of integrated learning and use in the Last Mile to unite the academic circle with industry and realizes the value and features of practice and application in a technical and vocational system.

The program gives priority to arranging basic theory courses and advanced professional courses in levels 1 and 2, while enhancing the training of language abilities to cultivate talented tourism and hospitality professionals with international views. During level 3, a 1-year career program is implemented off-campus to carry out the idea of strengthening cooperative education and fully integrating studies into industry. In level 4, focus is placed on cultivating students’ abilities of independent thought and professional integration. Through special seminars tourism and tourism and hospitality preparation, the school promotes university-industry cooperation to achieve the goal of a combination of theory and practice. After working 3 to 5 years after graduation from the program, students can include a specific career direction into their personal career planning through accumulation of personal experiences and professional knowledge, with the expectation to spread their wings in the tourism and hospitality industry and realize their personal goals.

Students’ prospects

With the improvement of the world’s economic capabilities and society’s diverse and international development, the tourism and hospitality industry is developing rapidly in this country and its employment, population, business operation, service objectives or capital exchange will all be highly valued. To increase academic exchange and assist relevant tourism and hospitality businesses to improve the quality of management and operation, this program targets pursuing the combination of theory and practice, both in course planning and teacher resource arrangements.

In the wake of domestic and foreign issues, the development of the tourism and hospitality industry shall pay close attention to operation and management, and the basic idea for course design of the program will emphasize an appeal to internationalization and the integration of information into future development. The bachelor program in international tourism management, with professional foreign language abilities at its foundation, emphasizes diversified learning, supplemented by professional intelligence, case discussion and practical research to train students’ professional skills and to cultivate talented professionals with creation, integration and operation, as well as management abilities for the hospitality and tourism industry.

The program is designed with two different cultivation goals for students to choose from in order to allow students to combine their personal career planning with the program’s cultivation targets so that they can take relevant courses and learn professional knowledge and skills to meet their personal career goals, with the hopes of cultivating professional service skills and international tourism marketing talents for the international tourism industry in which they will be the backbone.