Are hospitality/tourism curricula ready for big data?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish a conceptual framework on how hospitality and tourism educators could incorporate new technology and big data analytics into program curriculum. Design/methodology/approach The research developed a logic model to visualize the benefits/impact of hospitality and tourism data analyst via a literature review approach. Findings The incorporation of statistics, research and the knowledge of data exploration, analysis and insight into hospitality programs would enhance students’ data analysis competencies. Research limitations/implications This is a literature review paper, based on philosophical perspectives from literature review. It would be nice to conduct an empirical study with regard to data analytics in the hospitality and tourism industry. Practical implications The hospitality and tourism program coordinators and/or directors are urged to inspire more students who are interested in adding statistics and accounting studies to the hospitality and tourism field. Also, the hospitality and tourism data analyst would secure attractive job offers as well as enhance the average salary of hospitality and tourism graduates. Social implications Hospitality and tourism data analytics would secure attractive job offers as well as enhance the average salary of hospitality and tourism graduates. Originality/value The paper explored the impact of big data analytics in the hospitality and tourism industry and made recommendations for hospitality and tourism data analytics curricula.