Hospitality Management

Hughes: While the program is located within an innovative college, York is situated in the heart of Pennsylvania’s #1 tourist area, in the Mid-Atlantic Region close to Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and New York. The hospitality and tourism sector is a major component of the regional economy. As a result, employment opportunities exist within the region for hospitality graduates and interns.

Signaling the significance of the region, the following mega hospitality companies make the region home for their world headquarters: Marriott International, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Choice Hotels International, ARAMARK and Wyndham Worldwide.

In my judgment, York College is a perfect location for an innovative hospitality program

We will prepare students for work in this field by providing classroom learning experiences focused on communications, math, liberal arts, sciences and in the business disciplines necessary for effective practice in the hospitality business sector. Classroom learning will be connected to a continuous internship component, which will bridge classroom learning and foster professional development.

Moreover, our curriculum design will be evaluated annually by our students, faculty, and board of industry advisors to assure relevance and quality standards. We can’t help students learn about the importance of continuous improvement and innovation if we don’t practice what we teach.

The hospitality industry is one of the nation’s leading employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by this decade, the hospitality and tourism industry in the United States will employ approximately 15.1 million people, and that 2.5 million people will be employed in managerial, marketing and other professional positions within the industry. These numbers are staggering.

Management and supervisory positions abound in lodging, restaurants, catering operations, casinos, food and beverage distribution, golf and private clubs, institutional food services, events, cruise lines, airlines, transportation, entertainment venues, convention and tourism agencies and theme park operations.

The hospitality and tourism industry is of service to customers from around the world. Moreover, North America hospitality and tourism companies seek to expand their brands and operations in locations worldwide.

In this vein, York’s Hospitality students will develop their global understanding in the classroom and via their internship work experiences. Additionally, we're considering hospitality and tourism focused study-abroad learning opportunities to maximize this vital student learning outcome. See our current study abroad opportunities here.

Common characteristics of great leaders and managers in the hospitality business include a spirit to serve, global understanding, business knowledge and people skills. So, it only makes sense that we at York College work with our students to develop strong competencies in each of these dimensions in the classroom and in monitored internship experiences.

I rarely hear this, but when I do, I usually smile, as this conclusion suggests a lack of understanding. Hospitality is a business as complex as any, if not more so. The service sector of the United States economy represents approximately 80 percent of the nation’s Gross National Product (GNP), and the hospitality and tourism business sector is a major component of the services sector.

Graduates of this major will assume challenging management positions. The benefit of higher education and experience will provide the knowledge and skills necessary to manage and lead in this dynamic and highly competitive field.

— John Hughes, Department Chair