Bachelor of Science Honours in Health Tourism and Hospitality Management

 

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This Programme
Health and wellness services are ideal to promote in Sri Lanka given the role of tourism services exports as a share of GDP in many countries. Based on data from the survey of departing foreign tourists in 2015, it recommended 10 niche market segments for international tourists. Among them, health and well-being are one of the niche markets identified as a potential segment to promote in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Export Development Board also recognized health and wellness as a key component of the National Export Strategy. Since earlier it identified as a major sector in foreign exchange. In 2014, a new segment called ‘Health’ was introduced for a purpose of visiting Sri Lanka. Since the beginning, the statistics showed the demand is increasing and the majority of the tourists were from Western Europe.

In addition, World Tourism Organization has shown the demand for health and wellness tourism destinations has started to boom and, in the future, there will be more tourist demand for countries offering health and wellness treatments like Sri Lanka. Blending the traditional practices Sri Lankan health and wellness tourism industry has gained its unique identity all over the world.
When promoting the country as a destination of health and wellness tourism, the lack of professionals in the field has been identified as a major gap to be filled. Not only the professionals, but the practices of the health and wellness tourism field also need to be more professional. Identifying this, Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine is offering a Bachelor of Science Honours in Health Tourism and Hospitality Management (HTHM) by the Department of Indigenous Health Sciences, Faculty of Indigenous Health Sciences and Technology, intending to fill this gap. The degree program is aimed to develop the human skills of the health and wellness tourism segment while catering to the other segments of the tourism industry. The graduates of the department will become competent to contribute to the countries’ national and domestic production as health tourism professionals and entrepreneurs.
Benifits
The program will supply the industry with the highest caliber of qualified practitioners that have the competence to re-establish Sri Lanka as a major travel destination, not only for its biodiversity and natural beauty but also for the capacity to provide high-quality health-related exotics to the most affluent buying public worldwide. In addition, because it is a cross-cutting multidisciplinary program that covers tourism management, indigenous medicine, hospitality management, and pertinent ICT for all main channels, successful graduates will be able to position themselves as potential entrepreneurs with in-depth knowledge of areas that will soon be taken into account by travelers and vacationers as a matter of course. The Bachelor of Health Tourism and Hospitality Management (HTHM) Program's objective is to develop qualified professionals and business owners who can offer effective and efficient services in the health tourism and hospitality sector for the advancement of human welfare and the environment by working as a team member in an international community. The graduate will learn about local medical resources, hospitality management, marketing, health economics, human resources, and financial and strategic management during the four years.