This course will provide the student with the knowledge needed for the effective management of food service operations. Students will identify trends in the food and beverage industry, learn food and beverage management principles and understand how providing exceptional guest service can maximize profits in the hospitality industry. Topics will include food and beverage purchasing, inventory, costing, service styles, financial controls, menu design, sanitation, safety, ethics, food service automation, hardware and software, legal concerns, equipment selection, and service innovations in the design and layout of food establishments.

The meeting and event planner of today must know how to plan, execute, and evaluate any event to show value to the stakeholders. Meetings today help us celebrate meaningful events, change the way people behave, motivate employees to perform better, and solve problems by bringing together ideas from many different cultures. This course is designed to provide an introduction to the principles and concepts required for the management and execution of a successful event. Essential topics will include event planning, coordination, sponsorship, budgeting, programming, marketing, communications, vender management, volunteer management, risk management, event research, and event evaluation.

The overall objectives of this course are twofold. This course first examines the development, management, and improvement of service delivery systems used by service organizations (i.e., hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and health care) on the supply side through the lens of quality management. Secondly, the course examines customer requirements on the demand side by focusing upon how customer experience design shapes customers’ thoughts, actions, and decision processes. Students will learn techniques used for diagnosis, measurement, and continuous improvement of successful customer experience. There are three major sections in this course. Section 1 focuses on understanding the paradigm of customer experience, identifying the drivers of customer satisfaction, formulating strategies to optimize the customer experience, and managing service operations through the development of a service blueprint. Section 2 focuses on the role of exponential technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented reality, virtual reality, and data analytics, in creating exceptional customer experiences. Section 3 discusses the creation of exceptional luxury customer experiences, incorporating technology, and describing how brands go beyond traditional branding frameworks to create luxury experiences.

This class will concentrate on how the differences between product and service branding and marketing apply to travel destinations and tourist services such as lodging and recreational activities. Specific emphasis will be placed on the branding and marketing of tourism suppliers. Special attention will also be paid to promoting destinations as they move through their life cycle. The role of experiences in the marketing system will be covered from both the destination and supplier perspective.

Creating memorable experience is a crucial differentiator for hospitality and tourism enterprises. Guided by the concepts of “hospitality” and “being hospitable”, this course introduces theories and methods that can be utilized during the service encounter to trigger optimal customer experiences through physical, social, and cultural interactions. This course addresses the co-creation of the experiences and value not only from hospitality and tourism service providers but also from the engagement of customers. The course puts an emphasis on the design of the customer journey, including theming, storytelling, and sensory, as well as unfolding customer experience in the phygital (physical and online) platform.

This class provides the student an opportunity to explore the function of a convention from the point of view of the convention center manager. Consideration is given to various methods used to sell a location to an event planner and the servicing of large groups. Students also examine the various ways to evaluate floor and meeting space as to profitability and quality related to the goals and objectives of the client. Various forms of business are ranked and the ability of one convention to enhance a second are considered in the decision making process. Finally codes, regulations, and licensing considerations are explored.

Continuation of Project

This course is practical, project-based approach to a more traditional master's thesis. Students in the course will design and develop a project which reflects a viable option for an existing or putative organization. After a review of essential project management and planning skills as well as financial skills, the student designs and develops the project with continual review and feedback from the supervising faculty.

To be successful in our globally-networked business environment, contemporary management professionals must have a strong grounding in the principles of information and information technology. This course provides an introduction to the field of management information systems (MIS), including the tools and techniques for managing information and information technologies within organizations. We place a particular emphasis on the nature of systems, the role of information in business processes, the management of data, and the planning of MIS design projects.

An introduction to the field of marketing, stressing its role in the organization and society. Emphasis is on determining customer needs and wants and how the marketer can satisfy those needs through the controllable marketing variables of product, price, promotion and distribution.