ABSTRACT
Taken together, tourism, hospitality and events (TH&E) in university education have now had about 40 years of fairly continuous growth and development. During this time they have attracted the attention of a number of researchers and officials who have sought to explain, rationalize, theorize and draw conclusions and predictions about their development. Notably the edited work by Airey and Tribe (2005) brought together some of the thinking at least about the tourism elements of education and more recently a major study in Australia has reviewed the progress, issues and challenges for these subjects (Office for Learning and Teaching, 2012). At the same time, three journals have been established dealing with educational issues for TH&E: the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education, Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education and the Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism. Notwithstanding these developments, the scholarly literature examining curriculum issues or the pressures and changes affecting this important education sector remains relatively limited. At a time of significant change in higher education when the role of universities and of different subject areas is increasingly being questioned, and decisions are being taken to reshape the system of higher education, a review of the issues for TH&E education represents an important addition to the literature. This is the purpose of this book: to provide an insightful and authoritative account of the various issues that are shaping the higher educational world of TH&E.
