Nankai University is located in Tianjin, as a key multidisciplinary university directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and the alma mater of our beloved late Premier Zhou Enlai, it was founded in 1919 under the idea of saving the nation through education by Mr. Yan Xiu and Mr. Zhang Boling. In September 2017, the university was selected to be on the list of 42 universities and colleges that would participate in National Double First-Class Initiatives one of the 36 A-level universities in China.
Since 1981, Nankai University started to offer the Tourism Bachelor’s Degree which was the 1st university operated the tourism management undergraduate program in China. It is also one of the first batch of universities who were entitled to award the MSc in Tourism Economics, Master of Tourism Administration (MTA) and Ph.D in Tourism Management. It is also a secretariat unit of the National Tourism Management Master's Degree Education Guidance Committee, with strong teaching and research capabilities, rich social service and consulting research achievements, actively leading the reform and innovation of tourism education, cultivating a large number of outstanding talents, and making important contributions to the development of China's tourism industry. In 2022, the discipline of tourism management entered the top 50 of the world's first-class disciplines in the Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS), ranking 36th in subject of the tourism and leisure management among the 300 listed universities worldwide, and ranking among the top four universities in China.
The College of Tourism and Service Management was established in 2010, with two national first-class undergraduate majors: Tourism Management, MICE Economy and Management, as well as five disciplinary construction directions: Tourism Destination Management, Big Data and Tourism Management Engineering, Collaborative Innovation in Tourism and Innovation Management, New Business Forms in Tourism, and Education Innovation. It has Collaborative Innovation Centre of Tourism Development, Research Centre for China Tourism Market and Destination Marketing, Research Centre for Rural Revitalization on Culture and Tourism, Research Institute for Integrated Tourism, Research Institute for Red Tourism Innovation and Development, Research Centre for Silk Road Tourism, Research Centre for Marine Tourism, Research Centre for Leisure Agriculture and Rut at Tourism, Secretariat of the National MTA Education Guidance Committee, Marine Tourism Professional Committee of the China Pacific Society, and The 1st Smart Academy of Nankai University. These research centres and platforms have accumulated rich research achievements in the fields of rural revitalization and rural tourism, tourism industry integration and new formats, red tourism, tourism big data and emerging technologies, tourism sharing economy, tourism destinations and consumer behavior, and tourism enterprise management and innovation.
The college currently has 672 students, including 386 undergraduate students, 193 master's students, 62 doctoral students, and 31 international students. There are currently 41 professional teachers (including 6 professors, 23 associate professors, 6 lecturers, and 6 postdoctoral fellows) and 39 administrative officers. Professor Xu Hong, Professor Yao Yanbo, Professor Shi Peihua, Professor Ma Xiaolong, Professor Li Hui, Professor Chen Ye and other experts have high reputations in the domestic academic community. Professor Li Hui has been selected for the Youth Scholar Program of the Ministry of Education's High Level Talent Program and the first level of the Tianjin 131 Innovative Talent Training Project; Professor Li Hui, Professor Ma Xiaolong, Associate Professor Li Chunxiao, Associate Professor Liang Sai, and Associate Professor Bi Jianwu were selected for the "Hundred Young Discipline Leaders Training Program" of Nankai University, and Professor Li Hui's team was selected for the third batch of Nankai University's "Hundred Youth Teams"; Professor Ma Xiaolong has been selected as an outstanding expert by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Professor Xu Hong, Professor Yao Yanbo, Associate Professor Huang Jing, and Associate Professor Chen Jiagang have been awarded the Teaching Master Award at Nankai University.
In July 2015, China's first Collaborative Innovation Centre of Tourism Development, led by Nankai University, was officially established. In September 2019, it was recognized by the Ministry of Education as a provincial and ministerial collaborative innovation centre. In December 2020, it was selected as a source think tank in the China Think Tank Index (CTTI). In August 2021, it was selected as one of the "first batch of cultural and tourism industry think tank construction pilot units" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In accordance with the overall requirements of "national urgent need, world-class, advanced system, and outstanding contribution" proposed in the "2011 Plan", the centre has closely focused on the three major goals of "strategic pillar industries of the national economy, modern service industry that satisfies the people more, and a world tourism powerhouse", forming a new highland to serve the strategic needs of the country.
Over the past decade since its establishment, the College of Tourism and Service Management at Nankai University has established cooperative relationships with several well-known universities at home and abroad. The college has signed a Disney Theme Park teaching internship program (funded by the National Scholarship Council) with the Rosen School of Hotel Management at the University of Central Florida in the United States, a "3+1" and "4+1" double undergraduate and master's degree programs (funded by the National Scholarship Council) and a "2+2" doctoral program with the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, a "1+1" double master's degree and a "2+2" double doctoral degree joint training program with the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, a "2+2" Nankai International Student Program with the University of Hannah in South Korea, and a China Tourism Education Alliance with the University of Macau, Fudan University, and Sun Yat-sen University. In addition, the college has established platforms for faculty exchange and cross-cultural research with universities such as the University of South Carolina, Temple University, University of Utah, Oklahoma State University, Washington State University, University of Illinois, and the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain, to collaborate in the field of tourism and service management education research. The college has successively joined world-renowned academic communities and international tourism organizations such as UNWTO Knowledge Network, WTA, PATA, China-ASEAN Tourism Education Alliance, ICHRIE, CHME, CAUCHE, GReAT, ISTTE, IFITT, TTRA, IACTS, etc.
In terms of industrial cooperation, the college has maintained long-term cooperation with well-known domestic and foreign enterprises such as Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Tianjin Binhai New Area State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, National Convention and Exhibition Center, Tongcheng Travel, BES Culture and Tourism Group, China Tourism Group, Marriott Hotel Group, China Youth Travel Logan (Tianjin) International Business Exhibition Co., Ltd., Beijing Beichen Exhibition Group, Shanghai Disney Resort, China Mobile, Tencent Tourism, and 21st Century Business Herald in talent cultivation, practice bases, joint research, etc.
The vision of the college is to develop to be the leading tourism education college in China through the innovation mode.
The mission of the college is to become a centre of excellence for knowledge creation, educational innovation and services practice.
(Data as of October 2022)
