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 clearly defined the school running idea of “one mainline and four persistence”, and 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 culinary 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 672,000 square meters (1,008 mu in total). 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, beach volleyball 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.

There are 10,080 full-time students, including 9,294 undergraduates. It consists of 14 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 and School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 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 28 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 a wide variety of provincial research institutions, such as 2011 Collaborative Innovation Center for Sichuan Cuisine Industrialization and Internationalization, 2011 Sichuan-Tibet Tourism Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Collaborative Innovation Center, Key Laboratory of Culinary Science, Engineering Research Center of Sichuan Cuisine Industrialization, Engineering Research Center of Sichuan-Tibet Smart Tourism, School of Chinese Food Culture, Sichuan Cuisine Development Research Center, European and American Food Culture Research Center, Industry-University-Research Base of China Society of Logistics and National Vocational Skill Appraisal Institute. In addition, it has several provincial and municipal social science research platforms such as Food and Tourism Culture Popularization Base, Research Base for Fine Governance of Megacities, etc; it has a range of research institutes jointly established by the university and enterprises such as Mountain Tourism Research Institute, Arawana International Culinary Research Institute, Research Institute of Distinctive Condiments of Sichuan Cuisine, Lihe Flavor-Sichuan Tourism University Joint Research Institute of Condiments of Sichuan Cuisine, Hotpot Industry Collaborative Innovation Joint Laboratory, Potato Deep Processing Research Institute, Longquan Mountain Homestay Research Institute; it also has multiple scientific research and teaching institutions, such as Food Processing and Testing Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, Western Tourism Development Research Center, Rural Leisure Tourism Research and Design Center, Higher Education Institute as well as School of Red Culture and Education. The university is the Deputy Director Unit of the Catering Teaching Steering Committee, Chairman Unit of the National Catering Education Committee of the China Cuisine Association, Vice President Unit of the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry and Chairman of its International Culinary Education, Vice President Unit of China Hospitality Association and Vice Director Unit of Industry-Education Integration Alliance of Applied Universities in Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle.

The school library has a collection of more than 1.04 million paper books and 670,000 electronic books, as well as 29 electronic databases and knowledge service platforms in Chinese and foreign languages, and is provided with a wired - wireless integrated campus network of 10 gigabits.

Currently, there is a staff of 823 people, including 475 full-time teachers. Among them, 225 have senior and deputy senior titles, accounting for 47.37%, 412 hold master degrees or above, accounting for 86.74% and 228 are “dual-qualification, dual-capability” teachers, accounting for 48%. Among the staff, there are 2 experts with a special allowance of the State Council, 3 members of the Education Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education, 1 National Model Worker, 2 national May 1st Labor Medal winners, 1 National Technical Expert, as well as Chinese food safety experts, intangible heritage experts, cooking masters and baking masters, totaling 46 people, academic and technical leaders and candidates of Sichuan Province totaling 13 people, 4 excellent experts with outstanding contributions in Sichuan Province, 16 members of Education Steering Committee of Sichuan Province, and winners of May 1st Labor Medal, May 4th Youth Medal, Annual Woman Pace-setter, Prominent Educator, Tourism Experts, Top-ten Athletes of Sichuan Province, Famous Sichuan-cuisine Chef in Chengdu, and Craftsman of Longquanyi District, totaling more than 60 people.

The university has 1 national teaching team and 8 provincial and ministerial teaching teams, 13 provincial-level “first-class, distinctive, advantageous, application-oriented demonstration and comprehensive reform pilot” majors approved, 2 state-level excellent resource-sharing courses approved, and 58 provincial-level courses concerning “first-class courses, undergraduate application-oriented demonstration, high-quality online opening, innovation and entrepreneurship education demonstration, curriculum ideological and political demonstration” approved, 1 national vocational skills appraisal institute, 3 provincial experimental teaching demonstration center, 2 provincial college students off-campus practice education bases, 166 featured experimental and training rooms, 189 teaching, practice and training bases, 1 provincial emerging engineering education project, 1 provincial emerging liberal arts education project, 36 industry-university cooperative education projects of the Ministry of Education and 3 provincial government teaching achievement awards.

In the “Internet Plus” competition from 2018 to 2021, the university has won 1 national silver award, 12 national bronze awards, 11 provincial gold awards, 35 provincial silver awards and 58 provincial bronze awards.

The university adheres to the integration of industry and education, school-enterprise cooperation and international education. The university has signed cooperation agreements with 29 universities (institutions) from 14 countries (regions) such as France and Italy. It is the initiator and governing unit of the “China-ASEAN Tourism Education Alliance” and participates in ASEAN tourism education cooperation, and it is one of the only 4 universities in China to join the European Erasmus + Higher Education Ability Improvement for Sustainable Tourism Talents Program. In terms of overseas internship and employment programs, it has maintained long-term cooperation with Singapore, UAE, Qatar, Australia, the United States and so on. Moreover, the university has established stable cooperative relations with the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Sichuan Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, 12 provincial departments and bureaus in Meishan, Ziyang and other cities, 27 governments of cities and prefectures, and relevant associations, scientific research institutes, universities and enterprises, carried out a large number of collaborative education and cultural tourism projects, and formulated 14 standards for localities (industries) and 20 industrial development plans and advice for tourism, Sichuan cuisine, outdoor sports and so on for provincial and municipal governments, establishing a comprehensive and diversified collaborative education mechanism featuring the integration of industry and education and school-enterprise cooperation.

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: May 10, 2022