Tourism & Hospitality Management Study Programs

Tourism moves people and people move tourism. As experts, we are researching the tourism of the future – sustainably and with innovative approaches. Where better to do this than in Vienna, one of Europe’s leading tourist destinations and the world’s most liveable city?

Rethinking tourism. Driving change. We explore the potential of sustainable city tourism and develop concepts for the future of urban destinations. To harmonize the needs of visitors and locals in the urban environment – interdisciplinary, international and innovative.

Tourism is an interdisciplinary field of research in which approaches and theories from different disciplines must be taken into account. Consequently, the research work at FHWien der WKW’s Tourism & Hospitality Management Study Programs is also broadly diversified.

Contact

Währinger Gürtel 97
1180 Vienna

Tel.: +43 (1) 476 77-5744

Research Areas

The primary research focuses are in the following areas:

Sustainable Tourism Development
Gastronomy & Culinary Research
Destination & Visitor Economy Management

Have a look at the focus areas, methods and outputs here:

Practical Approach

Culinary tourism refers to the focus on culinary delights as a tourist attraction and destination. Food and enjoyment offer tourist destinations the opportunity to differentiate themselves from the global competition and build a specific image.

In addition to observing travel trends such as slow travel and cultural tourism, we also examine current challenges in the industry such as the shortage of skilled workers and overtourism. The aim is to find responsible and authentic travel experiences so that the destination can continue to meet the demands of people, the environment and society in the future.

Tourism is particularly important for Vienna. With its Visitor Economy Strategy, the City of Vienna pursues the goal of shaping this economic sector in such a way that it considers the interests of the population, the local economy and guests.

An Endowed Chair for Sustainable Urban and Tourism Development will provide scientific support for this process in the future. The newly created position has been taken over by Cornelia Dlabaja in August 2023, and is designed to run for five years. The professorship is the first in Austria in the field of urban tourism. It is sponsored by the Vienna Chamber of Commerce (WKW).

Projects

In our wide-ranging research portfolio, we carry out long-term EU projects as well as sector-specific studies and commissioned projects.

All projects are based on the principle of application orientation and aim to solve industry-specific problems and thus contribute to the further development of tourism research. Students benefit from the research work in the subject areas, as the results are incorporated into the curriculum.

WKW Endowed Chair for Sustainable Urban Tourism

Based on the challenges of sustainable tourism and urban development, the endowed chair addresses socially relevant issues for location development.

The aim is to establish a research program for sustainable and resilient location and tourism development that provides scientific support for the implementation of the Visitor Economy Strategy.

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EuroCHRIE Conference 2023

With the motto “Changing Realities. New Opportunities”, over 220 delegates from 35 countries and 133 hotel & tourism educators met at FHWien der WKW from October 3-6, 2023.

With top speakers, exciting presentations, an extensive social program and final award ceremony in the Vienna City Hall, the event was a complete success.

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NANGUR: Nachhaltige Ernährung im Urlaub

The aim of the project was to promote sustainable gastronomy in vacation destinations.

Based on the results, a handbook with recommendations for tourism service providers such as tour operators, hotels and cruise ships, was developed for practical implementation.