Evaluating Undergraduate Curriculum in Hospitality Management: A Comparison between China and South Korea

Abstract

ABSTRACT The fundamental purpose of any hospitality and tourism educational program is to cultivate the skills and talents of future industry leaders to fit the needs of the industry. In this way, tourism services or products meet international standards for both domestic and foreign tourists alike. This research aims to evaluate the undergraduate curriculum content in Chinese and South Korean universities, in line with contemporary tourism and hospitality by reviewing literature. Content analysis is employed to analyze the undergraduate curriculum content. 20 Chinese and 10 South Korean universities’ curriculum content were selected as a sample. The research result indicates that the Chinese curriculum is business-oriented with tourism and hospitality subjects included, while the curriculum in South Korean universities has independent hospitality programs. South Korea’s curriculum is more targeted in the tourism and hospitality-related subjects and engaged in the internationalization of talent training. Both countries’ curriculum content has a shortage in balancing the theoretical subjects and practical training. There is also a lack of courses to help graduates adapt to the dynamic development of the tourism industry. The study provided valuable information in Asian hospitality curriculum design, which has theoretical and practical implications for contributing to hospitality education.