Hospitality, the largest private employer in Florida, has been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 550,000 people now unemployed or working significantly fewer hours. In an effort to help those affected, FAU’s nationally ranked Hospitality and Tourism Management program is offering its Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism Management for free.

Beginning April 9, the program will offer five online sessions to teach participants about hospitality law, career competencies, marketing and revenue management, finance fundamentals and service excellence. In addition to keeping people positively engaged while they are not at work, the certificate program will help hourly associates, as well as supervisors and executives who work in hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, or any other service-oriented business, be better prepared when they do get back to work.

The Hospitality and Tourism Management program has offered the certificate for more than 10 years at a cost of $900 per participant, but FAU is waiving all fees to help workers weather this unprecedented period. As of this writing, more than 4,000 people from 79 countries on every continent excluding Antarctica, have registered for the certificate program.

I am very proud of FAU’s Hospitality and Tourism Management program, which was ranked by The Best Schools as one of the Top 30  hospitality programs in the country, and FAU’s Executive Education programs, which recently were ranked No. 1 in Florida by Financial Times.

I especially want to commend Peter Ricci, Ed.D., director of FAU’s Hospitality and Tourism Management program, for his leadership this wonderful initiative, as well as the faculty and staff who will make these classes possible, for their hard work and dedication. This effort to help our global hospitality industry – for free – embodies the true spirit of community engagement that we value so highly here at FAU.

Click here for more information or to register for the Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism Management.