Bachelor of Business in Tourism and Hospitality Management

This is a three-year bachelor degree for people who want to work in tourism and hospitality, hotels, resorts, events, food and beverage, destination marketing, tour operations. Southern Cross University runs it as a business degree first, so you spend your time on accounting, marketing, management, economics and law alongside the tourism and hospitality units that give the degree its name. You will look at how hotels actually make money, how destinations attract visitors, how events are planned and delivered, and how food and beverage operations are run.

How the degree is structured

Australian bachelor degrees sit at level 7 of the Australian Qualifications Framework and normally take three years of full-time study. Southern Cross runs its academic year across study periods rather than a single long semester, which means you can often choose how many units you take at once. You accumulate credit points as you pass units of study, and you need a set number to graduate. The first year is broad, core business units that everyone in the faculty takes. Later years get more specialised, with tourism and hospitality units and electives. Many students finish with a capstone unit or an industry project that pulls the degree together.

Work-integrated learning

Hospitality and tourism employers expect you to have worked in the industry before you graduate, and this degree includes professional placement or industry-based learning as part of the course. That might be a set number of weeks in a hotel, resort, event company or tourism operator. Southern Cross is based in northern New South Wales and the Gold Coast, regions where tourism is a major employer, so placements are not hard to find. If you are an international student, your Student visa lets you work up to 48 hours a fortnight while you study, which many students use to pick up casual shifts in hospitality at the same time.

What you come out with

You graduate able to read a profit and loss statement for a hotel, build a marketing plan for a destination, manage a roster, handle a guest complaint, and understand the regulations that apply to licensed venues and tour operators. Those are practical skills, and they are what employers ask about in interviews. After you finish, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream lets eligible graduates stay and work in Australia for a period set by the Department of Home Affairs, worth checking the current rules if that is part of your plan.

Who it suits

This suits school leavers who want a business degree with a clear industry attached, and people already working in hotels, restaurants or tourism who want to move into supervision or management. It also suits international students who want an Australian qualification in a sector that hires year-round. Entry is through your Year 12 results or an equivalent, and international applicants need to show English proficiency, IELTS Academic 6.0 to 6.5 overall is the usual undergraduate standard. Tuition and intake dates are published on the CRICOS register under course code 085172K, and you should confirm current details on the official page before you apply.

• Hotel and resort management, front office, housekeeping, food and beverage, duty management, then assistant manager roles with groups like Accor, IHG and Marriott.
• Event and conference operations, venue coordination, event logistics, business events and exhibitions.
• Tourism operations and guiding, tour companies, ecotourism operators, attraction and experience providers.
• Destination marketing and visitor services, regional tourism organisations, local councils, visitor information centres.
• Food and beverage management, restaurants, bars, catering companies, licensed clubs and pubs.
• Revenue and reservations, pricing, distribution and online travel channels.
• Travel and airline customer service, retail travel, inbound tour wholesaling, airline ground operations.
• Small business and entrepreneurship, running your own cafe, tour business or accommodation property.

Australian employers in this sector include hotel and resort groups, hospitality venues, event and exhibition companies, tourism boards, airlines, travel agencies and the many small operators that make up regional tourism. Graduates often start in supervisory or coordinator roles and move into management within a few years.