Department of Tourism and Hotel Management
.... a place where WORLD turns into REAL ACTION ......
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORKPLACE
The Department of Tourism and Hotel Management is one of the three founding departments of the Faculty of Management, Economics and Business. Its history began to be written in 1994, when the first university workplace for the training of tourism professionals was established in Prešov - the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management at the University of Pavel Jozef Šafárik in Košice, workplace in Prešov. The institute was also established with significant material and pedagogical support from the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management of the University of Savoy in Chambéry, France.
After the establishment of the University of Prešov in 1997, the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management as a scientific and pedagogical workplace was incorporated into the organizational structure of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prešov in Prešov.
With the establishment of the Faculty of Management of the PU in Prešov in 2004, the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management was integrated into the newly created structure of the Faculty of Management as the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management. In 2021 (November 21, 2021), the name of the faculty changed. It has been expanded. The department is thus part of the Faculty of Management and Business.
In this period, the need to connect the school system with practice resonates more and more, therefore even universities with study fields focused on the field of tourism and hotel management prepare their students during the educational process, especially with the aim of successful employment on the labor market. The members of the department are aware that university preparation is a constant process of finding new methods and forms of teaching and continuous improvement of study programs. An important part of the department's activities in the pedagogical field is therefore the provision of professional practice workplaces for students, the organization of professional excursions to hotels, restaurants, spa facilities, travel agencies and other businesses in the field of tourism, geographical excursions with the aim of getting to know Slovakia and selected foreign destinations, inviting experts from practice to lectures and workshops for students and active cooperation with professional organizations (e.g. Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Slovakia, Slovak association of travel agencies and travel agencies, regional tourism organizations, etc.). The main goal of the aforementioned and many other activities of the members of the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management is to achieve the necessary connection between the school system and practice through the examination of its needs in the national and international space, trends in education and in the field, by conducting own research and implementing the acquired knowledge and experience into the educational process.
The Department of Tourism and Hotel Management provides:
Teaching profile subjects in the bachelor's study program Tourism, Hotel and Spa Industry in full-time and part-time form of study:
Fundamentals of Travel and Tourism
Destination Management and Tourism Product Development
Hotel Services Management
Technology of Spa Services
Management of Services and Events in Tourism
Teaching of compulsory optional subjects in the bachelor's study program Tourism, Hotel and Spa Industry, which are also offered to students of other bachelor's study programs of the faculty in the full-time and part-time form of study:
Tourist Destinations in Slovakia
Gastronomy and Restaurant Management
History of Culture
Quality of Services in Tourism
Sustainable Tourism in Rural Areas
Travel Agencies
Creating Projects in Tourism
Guiding Services in Tourism
Teaching of compulsory optional subjects in the Master's study program Management in full-time and part-time form of study:
Green Economy Tourism
International Tourism
SCIENTIFIC AND RESEARCH FOCUS OF THE DEPARTMENT
The research activities of the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management at the Faculty of Management and Business, University of Prešov, are rooted in the department’s long-standing professional focus on tourism, the hotel industry, gastronomy, and the spa sector. These activities reflect contemporary economic, social, technological, and environmental changes that influence the development of the industry. The core cross-cutting principles guiding the department’s research include: sustainability, competitiveness, innovation, digitalization, quality, and internationalization.
The research work of the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management focuses on the management, economics, and sustainable development of tourism, the hotel industry, and the spa sector within the context of dynamic economic, social, technological, and environmental shifts. Research efforts are primarily directed toward the competitiveness and management of tourist destinations; the economics and management of hotel, gastronomic, and spa enterprises; service quality and innovation; the digitalization and technological transformation of the sector; as well as consumer behavior and emerging trends and forms of tourism. The primary objective of the department’s research in the coming years is to advance theoretical and empirical knowledge regarding the factors that drive sustainability, competitiveness, and transformation within tourism, the hotel industry, and the spa sector, and—through applied research—to contribute to enhancing the quality of management in tourist destinations and enterprises. Emphasis will be placed on integrating economic and managerial approaches with current issues concerning sustainability, digitalization and technological innovation, service quality, consumer behavior, and regional development.
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
International Research Project
Project Title: Inclusive Rehabilitation Routes: Post-Conflict Recovery Models for V4 and Ukraine
Project Type: International Visegrad Fund
Project Number: 22610423
Duration: 01.06. 2026 – 30.11. 2027
Principal Investigators (UNIPO): doc. Ing. A. Šenková, PhD.; doc. Ing. K. Šambronská, PhD.
Project Information: https://www.peuni.cz/veda-a-vyzkum/realizovane-projekty-a-granty/
Domestic Scientific Research Projects
1/0426/25 - VEGA
Methodological modeling of the system of digital passportization of tourism in Slovakia.
Project Leader: doc. PhDr. Daniela Matušíková, PhD.
Deputy Project Leader: Mgr. Tünde Dzurov Vargová, PhD.
Duration: 1.1.2025 – 31.12.2027
002PU-4/2025 - KEGA
Support for the Internationalisation of the Education of Selected Profile Subjects of the Study Programme Tourism, Hotel and Spa Industry.
Project Leader: doc. Ing. Anna Šenková, PhD.
Deputy Project Leader: doc. PhDr. Daniela Matušíková, PhD.
Duration: 1.1.2025 – 31.12.2027
SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED PROJECTS
Early Stage Grant – GAPU_VF/11
Pro-environmental Orientation of Tourism Enterprises Toward a Sustainable Future
Principal Investigator: Mgr. Tünde Dzurov Vargová, PhD.
Duration: 1.12.2024 – 30.4.2026
Early Stage Grant – GAPU_VF/12
Performance Analysis of Hotel Companies in a Global Environment
Principal Investigator: Mgr. Stela Kolesárová, PhD.
Duration: 1.12.2024 – 30.4.2026
005PU-4/2022 - KEGA
Innovation of the study program Tourism, hotel and spa industry in the first degree of study in the field of study Economics and management.
Project Leader: doc. Ing. Anna Šenková, PhD.
Deputy Project Leader: doc. Ing. Kristína Šambronská, PhD.
Duration: 1.1.2022 – 31.12.2024
020PU-4/2015 – KEGA
Creating multimedia web documents for e-lernigové education and improving the quality of knowledge managers and students.
Project Leader: doc. Ing. Peter Gallo, CSc.
Duration: 1.1.2015 – 31.12.2017
The Department of Tourism and Hotel Management was also responsible for the organizational aspects of the first international educational project hosted by the Faculty of Management at the University of Prešov: the "Erasmus Intensive Programme – Summer School IP 2010: Comparison of Tourism Development Determinants in the European Union and Candidate Countries in the Process of Globalization, Using a Specific Form of Tourism as an Example." The primary objectives of this three-year, rotating project included the mobility of students and faculty, the utilization of ICT tools and services, the informatization of society, and the promotion of creativity within the educational process through workshops, lectures, panel discussions, case study analyses, and field trips. Project participants met in a different country each year, with the project’s focus aligned with the dominant form of tourism in the host nation (2010: Slovakia, University of Prešov, Faculty of Management – "Spa Tourism"; 2011: Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey – "Summer Tourism"; and 2012: Austria, University of Graz – "Winter Tourism").
In 2018, members of the Department successfully carried out a project for the Prešov Self-Governing Region, supported by the Government Office of the Slovak Republic, titled: "Tourism Development Strategy for the Vranov nad Topľou District, within the Context of Broader Relationships Between Natural Destinations and the Interconnection of Activities Across the Least Developed Districts within the Prešov Self-Governing Region."