Programme Name and Duration

The title of the programme shall be Diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management. The duration of this programme is two academic years divided into four (4) semesters each lasting for seventeen (17) weeks, the last two of which are for examinations. Mandatory internship will be conducted at the end of the second year and will be for two (2) months.

Programme Description

The Hospitality Industry represents the fastest growing worldwide industry.  Within the broad area of hospitality, the Hotel and Food Service segment still continue to dominate the industry and provide excellent career prospects for those people with the right qualification

Demand for Hotel, Restaurant and tourism work force is on the rise. The more people travel, the greater the need for Hotel, Restaurant and tourism services. As operations become more complex, employers are putting more emphasis on specialized training which St. Lawrence University can ably offer.

Tourism has a well-defined academic community and borrows some concepts and theories from other disciplines to help investigate and explain particular phenomena and practices of tourism. As an academic field of study and professional training, tourism takes into consideration the contribution of three disciplinary perspectives indicated         below:
Environmental and Geographical Sciences; Economics with marketing as the core discipline and aspects of  Economics and Management Sciences; Social Sciences  with Sociology as the core discipline and aspects of  Psychology, Anthropology, History, Law and Political Science; and International Languages with emphasis on attaining basic communication skills in French, German and as well as Kiswahili which is a lingua franca in the East African, Central and South African regions.

 Programme Rationale

Tourism is a highly competitive industry, with regard to the standard of services required by the various clienteles.   Highly trained and groomed professionals are required to plan, manage and sustain the standards required of any tourism sector in any given country. Such training and grooming are required in various specialties of the tourism industry including but not limited to; hotel, restaurant, and institutional management; transport, travel and tour operations management; tourism product development and management; tourism promotion and marketing; leisure and recreational planning and management; wildlife conservation and management.  In addition, the demand for tourism products and services worldwide reflects very dynamic changes in tastes of tourists and trends in tourist flows.  This calls for constant research on consumer tastes and aspirations in order to meet the quality and quantity of the desired tourism products and   services.

Travel and Tourism and its associated hotel management now source of over 250 million jobs spread over in retail, construction, manufacturing, telecommunications, travel, tourism and hotels companies is now recognized to be the world’s largest, economic, ecological and social sustainable industry. When well-managed, travel and tourism based developments have less negative impact on the environment, are based on employment and appreciation of local culture, built heritage and natural environment and thus provides incentives to their protection. It increases consumer commitment to sustainable development principles through un parallel consumer distribution channels and provides economic incentives to conserve natural environments and habitats. 

It is recognized worldwide that Travel and Tourism Industry development will help cause and speed up equitable, economic, social progress and poverty alleviation in least developed countries (LDCs), Uganda inclusive, and accelerate their integration into the world economy.  But it has also been recognized that if not well developed and managed, tourism, travel and its associated hotel business cause destruction of fragile environments, local cultures and other negative impacts. Consequently, in addition to the global recognition, recommendation and financial support to governments of LDCS to develop their tour and travel industry, a matching institutional and professional capacity building inputs to support the developments are required. 

 Programme Objectives

The aim of the programme is;

1.  To equip learners with skills to plan and design tourist products and effectively manage tourism facilities.

2. To produce tourism and hospitality human resources that effectively communicate with and guide local and international tourists.

3.To produce tourism and hospitality professionals with skills to analyse tourism phenomena, promote and sustainably manage tourism resources.

4.To equip the tourism and hospitality human resources with skills to create jobs within the tourism sector.

 Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the students should be able to;

1. Plan, design and effectively manage itineraries and other tourism products and facilities.

2.  Communicate in at least two international languages and effectively guide tourists.

3.  Examine local, regional and international tourism trends and policies for sustainable tourism resource management and promotion.

  1. Have gained management and entrepreneurial skills for self-reliance in the tourism and hospitality industry.