Hospitality: a liberal introduction

Abstract

Hospitality management higher education's historic origins have resulted in a strong vocational ethos permeating curricula. Knowledge about hospitality has been drawn from the industry and the world of work rather than from the many disciplines or other fields of enquiry, which help explain hospitality. However, it would appear that a point has been reached where there is a will for hospitality management education to break out from its vocational and action orientation and begin to explore new territories that would embrace a more liberal and reflective orientation. The impetus may reflect maturity within the field of knowledge, and/or a generational change in the professional and academic profiles of the personalities who dominate. Thus, this paper explores hospitality management education, the movement towards the inclusion of a more liberal and reflective orientation, and provides an example of how a more liberal base was introduced into the curricula at two universities located in Australia and Scotland respectively.