Great expectations: building research capacity in vocational tourism and hospitality institutes

Significant changes are taking place in post-secondary tourism and hospitalityeducation in Australia. Along with an expansion of degree offerings by universities,vocationally focused degrees are also emerging from Vocational Education and Training(VET) organisations also registered as Higher Education Providers (HEP). Among themany implications of this emergence is building research capacity in the HEPs. Thisexploratory study reviews experiences in other countries to identify considerations for buildingresearch capacity in the emergent VET environment in Australia where hospitality andtourism degrees are offered. Using William Angliss Institute as a case study, theseconsiderations are drawn together to develop a model to drive the research capacity for VETHEPs delivering tourism and hospitality degrees in Australia. Applications and implicationsfor the direction of research capacity development among other like institutions are discussed.