An Analysis of the Curriculum Requirements among Hospitality and Tourism Management Programs Worldwide in AACSB Colleges of Business

ABSTRACT Many of the leading hospitality and tourism degree programs around the globe are nested within business schools accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). These programs offered within AACSB business schools include various formats such as undergraduate majors, concentrations, and minors involving specialized hospitality courses as well as general business courses in their core requirements. This study reviews the undergraduate curricula of all 43 AACSB accredited programs worldwide to identify variance in course offerings. Along these lines, this study finds that several general core business courses are offered more frequently inside the U.S. in comparison to curricula outside the U.S.; similarly, several specialized hospitality and tourism courses are more commonly offered outside the U.S. It is hoped that educators preparing students for careers in this field will find this benchmarking data useful in their own program development efforts within colleges of business.