Five reasons to study a course within the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Surrey

1. Gain excellent employability skills

Ninety-five per cent of our undergraduate students go on to employment or further study after they leave us.

Our courses give you the practical skills to get your career off to a flying start post-graduation. Students have the chance to test their knowledge through events and activities, including planning real events. Our Professional Training Placements also means you can gain work experience to complement your studies before you graduate.

We integrate visits from external speakers and experts which provide opportunities for you to launch your professional network.  

Our graduates have gone on to do amazing things, including:

• Events Executive EMap Publishing
• Executive (Events), Global Compact Network Singapore
• Graduate Management Trainee, Hilton Worldwide
• HR Coordinator, Sofitel London Heathrow
• Manager in Training, Four Seasons
• Operations Manager, Virgin
• Vita Futura Graduate Management Programme, Marriott International. 

2. Top facilities

In the 2023 National Student Survey (NSS), we saw a six-point increase in positive responses to all questions, reflecting an enhancement in student satisfaction (87 per cent).

The student-run Lakeside Restaurant and Coffee Shop offer a modern dining experience and our International Hospitality Management students are an integral part of both facilities. They give our International Hospitality Management students the chance to ‘learn on the job’. During your first year, you will gain experience working with our professional team of chefs and front of house team. You will learn about team dynamics and leadership – all important skills in the hospitality and tourism industries. 

We also use the Lakeside Restaurant as a venue for our live events modules and for our popular gastronomy tastings. 

* National Student Survey

3. Consistently highly ranked

By studying with us, you will learn from leaders in the sector. We are ranked 1st in the Complete University Guide 2023 for hospitality tourism, transport, travel and heritage management, and are in the top 5 for hospitality, leisure and tourism in the The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023.

Internationally, we are ranked 1st in the UK and 2nd worldwide for tourism and hospitality management in the Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2022.   

4. Our global outlook

Highly ranked in global league tables, our international connections enable us to offer a well-rounded learning experience to our students.

We are partners with top universities around the world to provide our students with study abroad opportunities; university partners include: 

• La Trobe University, Australia 
• MODUL University Vienna, Austria 
• Temple University, USA 
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 
• Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada. 
• University of Central Florida, USA 
• Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

5. Our values

We recognise the opportunities and challenges of living in an increasingly resource-constrained environment and from technological advancements. We embed the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into our curricula, and we emphasise the importance of digital innovation in our teaching. We hope to inspire students to carry an enterprising and resilient mindset forward into their own careers.  

Our commitment to these values can be found in: 

• Our modules, such as ‘Sustainability in Tourism and Transport’, helping you to explore the ethical and environmental side of hospitality and tourism management, and ‘Digital Innovation and Analytics’, helping you to extract insights from big data to inform innovation and business decisions   
• Our research on sustainability and digital transformation, including work into carbon emissions and sustainable travel, as well as data privacy. Find out more on our news page.

Find out more about our courses in hospitality, events and tourism management.