Introduction

Sichuan Tourism University is the first full-time regular institution of higher education naming after “tourism”, funded by the People’s Government of Sichuan Province. Approved by the Ministry of Education in 2013, it was established by combining Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine with Sichuan Agricultural Management Cadre Institute. The university is one of the 100 universities in China under the construction of the “Application-oriented Undergraduate Industry-Education Integration Development Project”, a comprehensive reform pilot university of “all staff, all process, all range” education in Sichuan Province and a pilot university in the overall transformation and development reform of undergraduate universities in Sichuan Province. In 2018, the university was approved as the “Benefiting the Overseas Chinese Project — Chinese Food Prosperity Plan Base” by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council. In September 2021, the university was selected as the fifth batch of national protection unit of representative intangible cultural heritage item. Oriented by “locality and application”, the university has undertaken the historical mission of “serving the country by strengthening tourism”. It also keeps deepening the reform of education and teaching, inheriting China’s excellent tourism and food culture, and cultivating application-oriented talents for economic and social development.

The main campus of the university is located at No. 459, Hongling Road, Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, covering a floor area of 1,008 mu. Numerous tourist attractions, including Mount Emei, Mount Qingcheng, Jiuzhaigou Valley, Huanglong Scenic Area, Minshan Mountain, Minjiang River, Leshan Giant Buddha and Dujiangyan Irrigation System, are condensed in this campus. The Leisure and Food Culture Park has been built into a national AAA-level tourist attraction, integrating the campus and tourist attractions, and casting a seamless connection between classrooms and scenes, and complementation between culture and tourism. The campus is equipped with multiple leisure sports facilities, including a rock-climbing ground, leisure sports comprehensive training center, Chinese Tang ball practice court, tennis court, badminton court and natatorium, and laboratories at all levels based on the teaching and research needs of all disciplines and specialties, developing a nine-in-one pattern of teaching, scientific research, competition, entrepreneurship and innovation, training, sightseeing, leisure, food and fitness. The school motto of “Embark on a 10,000-li journey of physical exploration while reading through 10,000 volumes of enlightening books” motivates teachers and students to combine knowledge and practice for sustainable growth, and the school spirit of “perseverance, sincerity, professionalization and innovation” guides all the staff and students of the university to exert themselves to forge ahead.

The current full-time enrolled students in the university are more than 10,000. It consists of 15 secondary schools, including School of Culinary Science, School of Food Science and Engineering, Hilton School of Hospitality Management, School of Sports and Leisure, School of Tourism and Cultural Industry, School of Economics and Management, School of Information and Engineering, School of Foreign Languages, School of Arts, School of Comprehensive Health Industry, School of Big Data and Statistics, School of Continuing Education, School of Marxism, School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and School of International Education, of which, the Hilton School of Hospitality Management is the second Hilton School of Hospitality Management in the world established in cooperation with Hilton Hotels Corp. There are 31 undergraduate programs, namely Cuisine and Nutrition Education, Food Science and Engineering, Exhibition Economy and Management, Hospitality Management, Leisure Sports, Tourism Management, Building Electricity and Intelligence, Landscape Architecture, Business English and Logistics Engineering and so on, covering 7 disciplines, such as management, engineering, science, literature, education, art and economics. Also, it offers featured junior college majors, such as Chinese and Western Pastry Arts, Western Food Arts and Golf Sports and Management.

The university has established 6 provincial and ministerial-level scientific research platforms, including the Sichuan Cuisine Development Research Center, the Sichuan Cuisine Artificial Intelligence Key Laboratory, the Cultural and Tourism Integration Development Research Center, the Research Base for Forging the Consciousness of the Chinese Nation Community in Sichuan Province, the 2011 Collaborative Innovation Center for Industrialization and Internationalization of Sichuan Cuisine, and the 2011 Collaborative Innovation Center for Enhancing the Competitiveness of Sichuan-Tibet Tourism Industry. It also has 9 prefectural and departmental-level scientific research platforms, demonstrating significant competitive advantages in Sichuan cuisine and tourism research. Additionally, there are 2 provincial-level teaching and training platforms, namely the largest catering talent training base in the country, the “Cooking Key Laboratory”, and 2 provincial-level teaching and training platforms for Chinese cuisine prosperity bases recognized as excellent “production-education integration training bases” by the Ministry of Education. The university also houses provincial-level research institutions such as the Sichuan Province Key Laboratory of Culinary Science, the Sichuan Province University Key Laboratory of Sichuan Cuisine Industrialization, the Sichuan Province University Key Laboratory of Sichuan-Tibet Smart Tourism Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Culinary Culture, the Center for European and American Dietary Culture Research, the China Logistics Society Industry-University-Research Base, the National Vocational Skills Appraisal Institute, and the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Sino-foreign Cultural Exchange Research, among others. There are also research institutions jointly established by the school and enterprises, such as the Food Processing and Testing Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, the Western Tourism Development Research Center, the Rural Leisure Tourism Research and Design Center, the Institute of Higher Education, and the Red Culture Education College. The university serves as the Vice Chairman Unit of the Ministry of Education’s Catering Teaching Guidance Committee, the Chairman Unit of the National Catering Education Committee of the China Cuisine Association, the Vice Chairman Unit of the World Chinese Catering Industry Federation, and the Chairman Unit of the International Education Branch. The China Hotel Association and the Deputy Director Unit of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle Applied Undergraduate University Production-Education Integration Alliance.

The school library has a collection of 1.17 million physical books, over 700,000 electronic books, and 20 various types of database resources. It has acquired both Chinese and foreign full-text databases and electronic borrowing systems, including CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP, and Seeking Knowledge. The library covers an area of 18,000 square meters and includes facilities such as electronic reading rooms, current periodical reading rooms, special collections reading rooms, reader training rooms, shared reading spaces, and multiple circulation bookstores.

Currently, there are nearly 1,000 staff members, among whom 44.5% of full-time teachers hold senior professional titles, and 25% have doctoral degrees. Among them, there are 7 national-level talents, including leaders of the National High-Level Talents Special Support Program, experts receiving special government allowances, national technical experts, and national labor models. Additionally, there are 4 members of the Ministry of Education’s Teaching Guidance Committee, and participants in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s “Ten Thousand Talents Plan” for tourism. There are also individuals recognized by the Sichuan Province as academic and technical leaders, experts in the Emei Plan and Qingcheng Plan, artisans, experts with outstanding contributions, committee members of the Sichuan Provincial Teaching Guidance Committee, experts in rural tourism training and planning, cultural and tourism experts, tourism youth experts, recipients of various provincial-level awards, and over 100 provincial-level experts and talents in teaching. Furthermore, there are more than 40 industry-renowned experts, including food safety experts, intangible cultural heritage experts, culinary masters, baking masters, renowned chefs, young chefs specializing in Sichuan cuisine in Chengdu, and skilled craftsmen in Longquanyi District.

The school has 1 national-level teaching team and 8 provincial and ministerial-level teaching teams. It has registered one national-level first-class major and 14 provincial-level majors including “first-class, characteristic, advantageous, application-oriented demonstration, and comprehensive reform pilot” programs. Additionally, the school has initiated two national-level first-class courses, two national-level fine-quality resource-sharing courses, three courses under the Ministry of Education’s “Hongzhi Assist Navigation” program, one course under the Ministry of Education’s “Those Who Can, Teach” program, and a total of 73 provincial-level courses covering “first-class, undergraduate application-oriented demonstration, fine-quality online open, innovation and entrepreneurship education demonstration, and ideological and political education demonstration”, along with two provincial-level virtual teaching and research laboratories. Furthermore, it has one national vocational skills appraisal institute, three provincial-level experimental teaching demonstration centers, four provincial-level university student off-campus practice education bases, 180 various characteristic experimental training rooms, and 214 teaching internship bases. The school has won one provincial-level New Engineering Project, one provincial-level New Liberal Arts Project, and collaborated on 68 projects under the Ministry of Education’s industry-university cooperation and coordinated cultivation program. It has also received seven provincial government teaching achievement awards.

The university adheres to international education and has signed cooperation agreements with over 30 universities in countries including the UK, France, the USA, Australia, Italy, and Georgia. It has long-term collaborations with countries such as Singapore, the UAE, Qatar, Australia, and the USA for overseas internship and employment programs. The university is the initiator and council member of the “China-ASEAN Tourism Education Alliance” and participates in ASEAN tourism education cooperation. It has also joined the European Union’s Erasmus+ Higher Education Capacity Building Program for sustainable tourism talent and is one of only four domestic institutions involved. The school has established the School of International Education, collaborating with the EPF Engineering School in France to offer undergraduate programs in architectural electrical and intelligent engineering and international Chinese education. The university has also partnered with the Hilton Hotel Management Group to establish the world’s second Hilton Hotel Management College, jointly cultivating nationalized and specialized high-end hotel management talents.

Continuously deepening cooperation with local governments and enterprises, the university adheres to the integration of industry and education. It has established cooperative relationships with more than 20 provincial departments and bureaus, including the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and the Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, as well as with over 100 enterprises, relevant associations, research institutes, and universities, in cities and prefectures such as Ya’an and Ziyang. It has carried out numerous collaborative education and cultural tourism projects. The school has contributed to the formulation of 14 local (industry) standards and provided consultation for over 20 industry development plans and related recommendations for provincial and municipal governments in tourism, Sichuan cuisine, outdoor sports, and other sectors. It has built a comprehensive and diversified mechanism for integrating industry and education, as well as cooperation between schools and enterprises.

The university, through years of construction and development, is rooted and developed based on Sichuan and tourism, has strengthened moral education and cultivated talents to enhance tourism and serve the country. Focusing on training application-oriented talents and serving local society, it has cemented its status as a teaching center, improved the conditions of school operation, obtaining remarkable achievements in talent training, scientific research, social services, cultural inheritance and innovation, and international exchanges and cooperation. The faculty and students of the university pool wisdom, embrace reforms and innovation with concerted efforts to overcome difficulties and build the university into an application-oriented university with distinctive characteristics!

Last update: March 29, 2024