Introduction

Our Certificate Program has been designed for those hospitality professionals who need to enhance their careers by acquiring a deeper knowledge in any of the hospitality business’ functional areas, namely Marketing, Finance, Human Resources and Operations.

Students have the following three options:

  • Enroll in any of our certificate courses and obtain a transcript.
  • Enroll in any of the four diplomas in the functional series, and obtain upon completion one of the respective diplomas in Hospitality Financial Management – Hospitality Marketing Management – Hospitality Human Resources Management – or Hospitality Operations Management.
  • Complete all four diploma programs, then enroll in our capstone Diploma “Strategy and Entrepreneurship” and develop a Final Project and become eligible to obtain a Bachelor´s degree in “Integral Hospitality Management”. Eligibility for the Bachelor’s degree will be based, among other things, on previous academic studies. An Associate Degree including administration courses in related areas is highly desirable. Exceptions will be granted where appropriate.

BA in International Hospitality and Tourism Management

The General Structure of out Certificate Program is presented in the following figure:

Certif program

 

Advantages of our Program

Our Certificate Program has been specifically designed so that it can be offered in classroom, or using distance education, or a combination of both methodologies. It has been developed both in English and in Spanish, so that it can be offered internationally.

As a consequence of UNICAL’s unique approach, students acquires the knowledge, skills and professional attitudes needed to be a competent leader in a competitive world. Thanks to its vision of academic professional education:

  • Students enjoy the flexibility of a classroom or distance education, or a combination of both.
  • The student is an entrepreneur in the acquisition of knowledge (entrepreneurial learning).
  • Skills Training (in cases in which the student cannot get them by himself) and the development of its attitude take place in practice.
  • The University personnel, specially its faculty, has an updated knowledge in their field, a global knowledge of management, basic knowledge of the integral hospitality industry, and they are up to date in their knowledge and application of modern educational methods. They possess the skills and competencies described for students.

Study Plan of the Certificate Program

Our Diplomas in functional areas, each consisting of 4 certificates, are presented in the following tables:

Diplomas ENG

Our Integration Diploma, consisting of 2 Certificate Courses, is presented in the following table:

Integration Diploma II

Structure of the Curriculum – Description of the Certificate Courses

IH01 Introduction to the Business of Hospitality
Study load: 6 credits
Duration: 9 weeks
Description: To be able to operate an existing business well, we should understand the business as an integrated whole. The central theme of this certificate, using a finance perspective, will be to get students acquainted with the key functional areas of any Hospitality Business: Management, Marketing and Finance. Most business decisions result from an interaction of these areas.
Prerequisites: None

IH02 Finances and Marketing
Study load: 8 credits
Duration: 12 weeks
Description: In this Certificate you will learn to use basic analytical tools in the integrated management of marketing and finance functions, which must be applied on the problems that a small hospitality organization or a department of a larger hospitality organization face on a daily basis. It will provide you with a solid foundation for more advanced certificates.
Prerequisites: IH01 – Introduction to the Business of Hospitality

IH03 Human Resources in Organizations
Study load: 8 credits
Duration: 12 weeks
Description: This certificate focuses on the People side of the organization. People are of great importance to any organization, especially in a service industry like the hotel industry, where personnel not only constitutes the face of the business, where most interactions with customers take place, but also because personnel expenses usually consumes more than 50% of the budget.

Prerequisites: IH01 – Introduction to the Business of Hospitality

IH04 Operations Management
Study load: 8 credits
Duration: 12 weeks
Description: In this Certificate the student will learn to understand and apply the tools and skills needed to solve management problems in a hotel, such as: Quality management, product and service design, supply chain management, maintenance, performance management and project management (decision analysis).

Prerequisites: IH01 – Introduction to the Business of Hospitality

IH05 Integral Marketing Management
Study load: 8 credits
Duration: 12 weeks
Description: Marketing serves as a vital link between customers and the rest of the company. On the one hand, marketing interprets customers ‘ needs and translates them into product and service ideas for the hotel’s internal departments so that operations can turn marketing designs into physical products or services. On the other hand, marketing identifies the right customers and appropriately communicates the company’s offer.

Prerequisites: IH02 – Finance and Marketing

IH06 Integral Financial Management
Study load: 8 credits
Duration: 12 weeks
Description: Financial management means to the hospitality manager to embody the interests and expectations of financial capital providers, or more clearly and concisely to make decisions that maximize the current value related to the company or to the wealth of the owners of the hospitality company.

Prerequisites: IH02 – Finance and Marketing

IH07 Cultural Diversity Management
Study load: 6 credits
Duration: 9 weeks
Description: Despite its importance, the concept of culture turns out to be quite abstract and underestimated in the arena of business, where the commercial transaction usually reigns and forgets the different cultural baggage that each person brings and that can hinder any strategic process. In the hotel Industry, with personnel and guests from multiple origins, it is essential to consider developing cultures and how to manage them properly.

Prerequisites: IH03 – Human Resources in Organizations

IH08 Food and Beverage Management
Study load: 6 credits
Duration: 9 weeks
Description: Students will gain knowledge and understand how the right mix of hard skills (food and beverage management principles) and soft skills (providing exceptional service to guests) can maximize benefits in the Hospitality industry. Students will learn to design and value menus, establish service styles, market foods and beverages and design installations and outlets.

Prerequisites: IH04 – Operations Management

IH09 Marketing Research
Study load: 6 credits
Duration: 9 weeks
Description: Marketing executives are increasingly having to make market-driven strategic decisions, requiring a formalized means of acquiring accurate and timely information about customers, products and the market and the general environment. The way to achieve this is through market research.

Prerequisites: IH05 – Integral Marketing Management

IH10 Revenue Management
Study load: 6 credits
Duration: 9 weeks
Description: The application of revenue management has been more effective when applied to operations that have relatively fixed capacity, predictable demand, perishable Inventory, and appropriate pricing cost and structure. The hotel industry complies with all these characteristics, so its application is obvious, especially in these difficult and highly competitive times. In this Certificate we will present the fundamental notions of revenue Management, as well as their application methodologies
Prerequisites: IH06 – Integral Financial Management

IH11 Integral Leadership Management
Study load: 6 credits
Duration: 9 weeks
Description: Leadership involves influencing in some way employees, associates or “followers” to carry out the goals of the organization. The efficiency of leadership, therefore, will depend on one hand of the knowledge that the leader possesses, his ability to implement them, and the form (attitude) in which he puts them into practice, and on the other hand in his ability to understand and transmit the mission of the organization.

Prerequisites: IH07 – Management of Cultural Diversity

IH12 Integral Strategy and Entrepreneurship Management
Study load: 8 credits
Duration: 12 weeks
Description This Certificate addresses the unique entrepreneurial experience of conceiving, evaluating, creating, managing, and potentially selling a business. The goal is to provide a solid background with practical application of important concepts applicable in an entrepreneurial environment.

Prerequisites:

  • IH03 – Human Resources in Organizations
  • IH04 – Operations Management
  • IH06 – Integral Financial Management
  • IH09 – Marketing Research

IH13 Final Integration Project
Study load: 12 credits
Duration: 18 weeks
Description: In this project, students will have the opportunity to use all the competences acquired during the whole program. They will have to conduct a complete strategic analysis of an existing hospitality business, a sound analysis of how its basic functions are operating and, on the basis of a SWOT analysis, develop three strategic options and their related action plans. Management of the hospitality business will evaluate the strategic options and action plans and will select one which the students will have to implement.
Students will then present and defend a final report including their findings, suggestions and subsequent actions. A panel of faculty members and hospitality managers will attend and grade the presentation and the work developed.

 

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