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Family & Consumer Sciences | Hospitality and Tourism

3 Best Hospitality and Tourism Curriculum Options for High School

March 14th, 2023 | 7 min. read

Mike Cescon

Mike Cescon

With past experience in teaching, a couple of degrees in writing, and an upbringing immersed in medical jargon, Mike is positioned well to hear out the most common questions teachers ask about the iCEV curriculum. His goal is to write content that quickly and effectively answers these questions so you can back to what matters - teaching your students.

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If you’re a high school family and consumer sciences teacher, then one course you’ve probably thought about teaching is hospitality and tourism. These popular courses do a lot to draw in and engage students, but to teach them well, you need the right curriculum for your classroom. 

So what is the best hospitality and tourism curriculum for high school? What options are there on the market, and which would fit your class?

In this article, you’ll discover some of the best hospitality and tourism curriculum options to teach high school:

  1. Hospitality and Tourism Management, 2nd Edition
  2. Introduction to Hospitality, Eighth Edition
  3. Hospitality and Tourism Curriculum from Stride

After reading, you’ll be equipped to choose the best curriculum for your hospitality and tourism course. 

1. Hospitality and Tourism Management, 2nd Edition

HTM Front CoverThe American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) is an organization dedicated to helping raise the next generation of hospitality professionals. To accomplish this, they offer textbooks, online courses, and even certification options to schools and universities. 

One product AHLEI provides is its Hospitality and Tourism Management curriculum, a high school eBook option intended to educate students on hospitality fundamentals and prepare them for certification exams. 

This hospitality and tourism curriculum is comprised of 24 chapters divided into six units:

  1. The World of Hospitality
  2. Lodging Operations
  3. Food and Beverage Operations
  4. Event Management
  5. Travel and Tourism
  6. Hospitality Business and Leadership Skills

The eBook portion of this curriculum is interactive, so students can use it to take notes, watch videos, search through the text, and even answer review questions. 

Besides the eBook, additional resources provided with the curriculum include a student activity guide, quizzes, test banks, PowerPoints, and more. All in all, this curriculum has enough content to cover either a semester- or year-long hospitality course.

Who Is This Curriculum Intended For, and How Much Does It Cost?

AHLEI’s Hospitality and Tourism Management curriculum is a great fit for high school teachers looking for a well-rounded, flexible option to help them teach their course. With a combination of an eBook and other digital resources, you can be assured your students will find this course both informative and engaging. 

You can rent Hospitality and Tourism Management from AHLEI for $36 per copy. It’s important to note, however, that this will only provide you one year of access to the eBook, and you’ll have to renew your subscription every year. 

2. Introduction to Hospitality, Eighth Edition

Introduction to Hospitality: Walker, John, Walker, Josielyn: 0000135209811:  Amazon.com: Books

Authors: John R. Walker and Josielyn T. Walker

Copyright: Pearson, 2020

Introduction to Hospitality, 8th Edition is a foundational hospitality textbook written to give students a comprehensive view of the subject. Within this text, students will discover the basics of several hospitality sectors, as well as insights into career opportunities. 

Introduction to Hospitality is divided into 18 chapters across five parts:

  1. Introducing Hospitality and Lodging
  2. Beverages, Restaurants, and Managed Services
  3. Tourism, Recreation, Attractions, Clubs, and Gaming
  4. Assemblies, Events, and Attractions
  5. Managerial Areas of the Hospitality Industry

Included with the textbook are resources like activities, case studies, learning objectives, technology spotlights, current issues, and more. Overall, this curriculum is designed to give your students a well-rounded, in-depth view of the hospitality industry.

Who Is This Textbook Intended For, and How Much Does It Cost?

Introduction to Hospitality is a good choice for high school teachers looking for a more traditional curriculum for their hospitality and tourism management course. Textbooks like this are full of reliable information and are relatively easy to implement in the classroom. 

However, it’s important to note that this textbook was first published in 2019, and therefore some of its information may be inaccurate. After all, there have been many recent changes in the hospitality industry, and it would be valuable to ensure your curriculum is up to date. 

You can purchase a print edition of Introduction to Hospitality for $90.66 on Pearson’s website. Alternatively, they also offer eBook editions starting at $9.99 per month

3. Hospitality and Tourism Curriculum from Stride

K12Stride is a digital curriculum vendor that offers flexible, personalized resources to help students, teachers, and districts improve the educational experience. They believe that by helping students learn digitally and at their own pace, they can help raise the next generation to be happier and better educated. 

One of the CTE career fields Stride offers curriculum for is Hospitality and Tourism. This curriculum covers the basics of the subject area, introducing students to essential concepts and skills. 

The Hospitality and Tourism curriculum is split into several pathways. One of these pathways is called Hotel and Lodging, and consists of the following courses: 

  1. Hospitality and Tourism 1
  2. Hotel and Restaurant Management
  3. Hospitality Management, Marketing, and Operations
  4. Hotel Management 1
  5. Hotel Management 2
  6. Human Resource Management 1
  7. Human Resource Management 2

Another relevant pathway in this curriculum is called Travel and Tourism, which is comprised of these courses: 

  1. Hospitality and Tourism 1
  2. Introduction to Business Communications
  3. Business Communications 2
  4. Professional Sales and Promotion 1
  5. Professional Sales and Promotion 2

Though the content of these courses will vary depending on the student, typically they include assessments, activities, digital presentations, individual coursework, and projects which students can complete collaboratively.

However, one important point to remember is that each course covers only one semester, which may not be enough to suit your needs. 

Who Is This Curriculum Intended For, and How Much Does It Cost?

Stride’s high school Hospitality and Tourism curriculum would be a strong choice for teachers looking for resources to teach a semester-long course in this subject area. 

On the other hand, if you need a more well-rounded, year-long curriculum for your hospitality and tourism class, then this option may be too short for you. In addition, Stride’s implementation process is more complex than other options on the market, so teachers looking for quick access to a new curriculum may find better choices out there. 

Stride doesn’t list pricing information for their teacher-focused CTE curriculum. If you want to learn more about their pricing structure, you’ll need to contact their team directly.

Need An All-in-One Hospitality and Tourism Curriculum for High School?

In this article, you’ve discovered some of the best hospitality and tourism curriculum resources for high school. Using these course options, you’ll be able to train your students in the essentials they need to know the industry and earn their certifications. 

However, if none of these seem like the fit for you, and you need a curriculum that combines the best parts of each, then consider iCEV’s Principles of Hospitality and Tourism course

This course includes everything you need to train your students to a professional level, including lesson plans, informative videos, projects, activities, and assessments:

Discover the Hospitality and Tourism Course