Blending the Vocational and Liberal: A Snapshot of Tourism and Hospitality Undergraduate Degrees at Australian Universities

As part of a wider study attempting to clarify the liberal and vocational blend within tourism and hospitality degree curricula, this paper reports on interim findings of an analysis of tourism and hospitality programs at Australian universities. While issues have been identified such as complex degree structures, cumbersome university websites and inconsistency of terminology used, some preliminary observations have emerged. There appears to be a move towards business-­‐oriented units (with these often being generic units provided on a faculty-­‐ or university-­‐wide basis), increasing evidence of pathways in conjunction with other education providers, minimum research and project units as well as minimal evidence of internship/industry placement as core components of degrees. The limitations of this type of analysis are also identified: it can provide a snapshot of degree content, but deeper understanding must be gained from those making decisions about course content