Graduate Certificate in Food Tourism Entrepreneurship George Brown College - St. James Campus, Canada

Explore the geography of food and beverage and learn to develop partnerships to promote unique experiences with the Food Tourism Entrepreneurship (Postgraduate) (H417) program. This one-year graduate certificate program prepares graduates to harness local economies and cultures of food and drink and channel them into successful and resilient tourism "experience" enterprises.  

Graduates may find career opportunities at local and international tourism attractions, culinary travel groups/associations, restaurants, wineries, breweries, cideries, distillers, agricultural destinations, destination marketing and development organizations, and government agencies in roles such as culinary tourism program manager, marketing travel consultant and conference services manager.

This program builds on the strengths of George Brown College's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and Chef School. Business graduates may also be interested in pathways in this field.

Students will learn to:

• Connect and work with businesses, communities and associations
• Support local economies by fostering relationships with stakeholders in agriculture, hospitality, tourism and agritourism
• Bring creative entrepreneurship skills to the small and medium food tourism businesses that make up the food tourism sector
• Provide consumers with "taste of place" experiences that build on new business models and opportunities
• Generate, capture, communicate and market unique experiences that speak to sustainability and traceability consumer values

The first two semesters of this program each include six courses provided through hybrid delivery. The third semester has three online hours of independent research projects per week, plus a work-integrated learning experience.

Program Learning Outcomes

• Research and assess local, national and global environments for food and beverage tourism opportunities that connect to local producers and provide tourists with authentic destination experiences.
• Develop sustainable food and beverage tourism products and experiences that equitably support the local environment and economy while recognizing the diverse cultural needs, experiences, and practices of local and global communities.
• Design marketing strategies to promote existing and new food enterprises, products and experiences using a variety of platforms appropriate to the target market.
• Develop business plans for sustainable food enterprises that strategically respond to evolving and changing market needs.
• Design innovative, creative and adaptive ideas and strategies for dynamic and ever-changing food tourism enterprises, products and experiences to ensure business competitiveness and sustainability.
• Select sales and customer service strategies and apply them to an enterprise's needs to ensure business long-term operational sustainability.
• Prepare and follow a plan for ongoing personal and professional development to establish and maintain entrepreneurial networking and business relationships and opportunities.
• Plan, implement and evaluate projects by applying management principles to support a small business's operation and administration.
• Select and implement risk management strategies to support all aspects of a small business operation.