Why Students Choose a Hospitality and Tourism Program: A Pilot Study of U.S. Undergraduate Students

More universities, two-year colleges, and graduate schools in the United States strive to create hospitality and tourism programs in order to accommodate the rapidly-increasing popularity of the hospitality and tourism management (HTM) field in US. higher education. The purposes of this study are: a) to identify reasons why college students in the U.S. want to study HTM; and b) to identify subject areas within HIM in which students want to specialize. This study also aims to identify students' preferred foreign destinations for studying HTM. The results of the empirical study of 479 undergraduate students majoring in HIM revealed six motivational factors, preferred study areas within HTM, and popular overseas destinations for HTM studies. Major findings and implications are discussed.