The objectives

• To identify and qualify the universities (or schools) in tourism leading in the world (in terms of research and training)

• To compile a benchmark of American universities in tourism leading in the world.

The benchmark concerning 20 universities in the USA leading in tourism allowed to identify 3 universities recognized internationally and corresponded to the objectives of Angers TourismLab:

• Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration
• University of Central Florida, Rosen College of Hospitality Management
• University of Houston, Conrad N. Hilton College

These American universities dispose of:

• Research laboratories in tourism with 40 researchers for each university
• Initial and continued training offers in terms of secondary and superior education, from Bachelor to PhD.
• Place of Application: these American universities possess their own sites of application (hotels, restaurants, theme parks) or cooperate with tourist site of application renowned in the world.

• To analyze the existing international partners of ESTHUA by spreading a questionnaire named “Descriptive paper of international partners” which includes

• The characteristics of partners in terms of the number of students, the number of training and their levels, the number of researchers and laboratories etc.
• The history of relationship
• The summary of exchange and collaboration in the past 3 years.

Concept and set up Summer Schools between academic partners.

Following the internal calls of projects, it was decided to retake the previously presented project about the creation of Summer School among the interested institutions: UA-ESTHUA / ESSCA / CCI Maine et Loire / University of Maine

After the exchanges with the advisers of each institution, consultation meeting concerning the organization, material resource, human resource, and participation into the debriefing 2015 of Summer School held by University of Angers, it was agreed by the partners that a Summer School of two weeks would be set up with the following topics: culture, heritage, gastronomy and digital technology. It will be organized by 4 founding partners of Angers TourismLab., and it will take place simultaneously from 2^nd July to 15^th July, 2016.

• To compile a benchmark of leading application hotels in the world

This task allowed to identify 11 hotels in the world:

4 in the USA:

• The Statler Hotel – Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration
• Hotel UMass – University of Massachusetts Amherst, Isenberg School of Management, Dept. of Hospitality and Tourism Management
• University of Central Florida, Rosen College of Hospitality Management (doesn’t own a place of application but implements a numbers of partners with the professionals in Florida: Walt Disney World, Ritz Carlton, Sea World, Four Seasons, Universal Orlando, etc.)

1 in China:

• Icon Hotel – Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hotel Institute

1 in Quebec:

• The institute of tourism and hotel of Quebec

4 in Europe

• Teaching Hotel Chateau Bethlehem – Hotel Management School Maastricht – Zuyd Hogeschool
• The Glion Institute of Higher Education
• The Skotel Amsterdam
• The Skotel The Hague

• To steer the construction of an international strategy with qualified and targeted (4 -7) partners for the purpose of a structuring development of the relationship by the exchanges of students, teacher-researchers and researchers, by the implementation of Summer Schools, double diplomas and joint master by means of collaborative research programs:

• Organization of international conference or seminar

• To reinforce the visibility in Europe by submitting papers to European programs (H2020, Marie Curie, ITN, ERC, etc.)