The future of hospitality starts in higher education.
On the latest Next Gen in Lodging podcast, co-hosts Omari Head and Chris Henry discussed how universities will focus their curriculum to hospitality students and how it has changed over the years. Head announced on this month's episode that he joined Howard University as executive director of the Marriott-Sorenson Center for Hospitality Leadership.
Hospitality has typically focused on a specific trait in the past, whether that's revenue management or, more recently, operations, Henry said.
But everything intersects with hospitality these days, whether it's construction, retail, real estate or food and beverage, Head said. Helping students understand and clarifying what that intersection looks like will be a focus from the universities.
"A lot of things that we thought of as being like, 'Oh, that is for that specific vertical,' those lines are very much blurred now," he said. "The future of hospitality is that we have to educate all of those different students on what the hospitality industry is."
At the Marriott-Sorenson Center for Hospitality Leadership, Head said there are three focuses: tourism and events; finance and technology; and real estate and investing.
"All of those different things help make a well-rounded hospitality professional," he said.
For more from Henry and Head, listen to the full podcast at the link above.
The Next Gen in Lodging podcast is also available to download on Apple or Spotify, where you can also subscribe to future podcast content.
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