Saint Xavier University Offers New Hospitality Management Degree

CHICAGO, IL -- Saint Xavier University is offering a new degree program in the field of hospitality management that can be immediately applied any hospitality setting after graduation. This program housed in the Graham School of Management located at 3825 W. 103rd St. in Chicago, is dedicated to teaching students the customer service skills, training, and techniques needed to be successful in this industry.

Students will learn that the goal within the hospitality industry is to make sure customers are delivered the best customer service possible. The skills students learn in these courses are to daid take them far beyond the classroom and help them to remain competitive in a constantly changing environment..

While the hospitality industry is fun and exciting, it is also complex and vast. Most people mistakenly think of this industry as consisting of restaurants and hotels alone. However, those are just two of the five industries that comprise the wide range of businesses representing the scope of hospitality and tourism:

• Travel and tourism—airline, cruise, rail, coach, and automobile
• Lodging—hotels, motels, and resorts
• Assembly and event management—meetings, conventions, and expositions
• Restaurants and managed services—restaurants, managed services and food service
• Recreation—gaming/casinos, attractions, amusement parks, national parks, and recreation.

SXU also touts the competitive advantages it offers over other universities with similar programs in hospitality management because our classes are smaller, which allows for a closer relationship with between teachers and students. Students enrolled in SXU’s hospitality program make on-site visits each semester to different hotels, restaurants, amusement parks and convention centers.

Guest speakers from the hospitality industry visit classrooms and share their personal stories with students. SXU also works with other businesses within the hospitality industry to offer student internships. In addition, the director of the hospitality management program, Dr. Joyce A. Hunter, spent over a quarter of a century working within the airline industry and brings real-world experience to the classroom.

Students who successfully complete the four-year program will receive a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in hospitality management.

The hospitality industry is the world’s largest industry and the most international in nature. International travel brings over 1 billion travelers and generates receipts of over $1 trillion.