The Department of Tourism Management presently has 10 teachers including 2 professors and 4 associate professors. Under the 4-year undergraduate program of tourism management, there are 3 directions, namely tourist hotel management, tourism planning as well as dietary nutrition and hygiene. This program aims to nurture innovative, high-quality specialists who are equipped with profound knowledge of tourism management, systematic theories, methods, approaches of modern management science and proficient in foreign languages (especially in English and Japanese).
During its 16-year operation, the department has kept serving for local and social development as its mission, focusing on the characteristics of economic and social development in South Jiangsu Province, relating the development in tourism industry, emphasizing the integration of industry, education and research, and cultivating the students’ comprehensive abilities. The department is also engaged in offering service and training programs off the campus with a view to tapping the potentialities of tourism industry. The department has also made great contributions to teaching materials, training programs, academic studies, etc. It has so far undertaken over 40 research projects while witnessed the publication of over 150 articles and more than 30 textbooks and monographs. It is worthwhile mentioning the fact the textbooks of the main courses in tourism management, all edited by the teachers in the department, enjoy good reputation and popularity in South Jiangsu Province.
As to the major education, the department highly values the opportunities to serve the local economy. It therefore cooperated with Suzhou Tourism Administration, Wuzhong District Tourism Administration, SND Tourism Administration and successfully finished teaching and researching programs. It has also established practice bases in over 10 tourist enterprises like Renaissance Suzhou Hotel, Suzhou Lakeside Hotel, Suzhou Youth Travel Agency and so on to help the students to be actively involved in practice. In the past 3 years, the employment rate of the graduates in tourism management has remained 100%. What is more exciting is that almost all graduates are highly praised by their employers.
The Department of Marketing
Among 9 teachers in the Department of Marketing, there is 1 professor and 2 associate professors. Under the 4-year undergraduate program, there are 2 directions, i.e., marketing management and E-business. The department sets its goal to train fully developed professionals with profound marketing knowledge and abilities to competently work for marketing related organizations.
Supported by the main disciplines, the department has achieved outstanding success in researching activities. In the influential and high-quality scientific research achievements, there are nearly 90 academic articles, 10 monographs and more than 20 national or provincial projects.
The department stresses the importance of putting theoretical knowledge into practice and strengthening the students’ professional skills. While requiring that before graduation the students should have Certificate of Marketing Post, E-business Certificate and other related credentials, the department also strenuously pursues employment opportunities for the students by establishing practice bases and signing employment contracts with some well-known enterprises such as Suzhou Asia Shopping Mall, Suzhou Feida Electronics Co. Ltd and so on.