USC has been selected as the site for a prestigious national center for tourism research.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is establishing its 23rd Center for Industry Studies at USC with $400,000 in seed money. USC will join schools such as M.I.T, Harvard, Wharton and Carnegie Mellon as a Sloan Foundation industry center site.

The center, which will represent a total private investment of $2.58 million, will be called the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Travel and Tourism Industry Center at the University of South Carolina and will be a partnership between USC's College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management and Moore School of Business. USC must match the $400,000 and raise the remainder of the funds for the center.
President Andrew A. Sorensen said the grant will have significant implications for USC, South Carolina, and the travel and tourism industry.

"It is yet another validation of our outstanding programs here at Carolina and a recognition of the expertise and exceptional capability of our faculty to conduct research that ultimately will help the travel and tourism industry adapt to a changing environment," Sorensen said. "But even more important, it makes the University partners with an industry that not only is linked to nearly every sector of the economy, but also is the largest industry in South Carolina."

Initially, 14 USC faculty members will conduct research involving multinational hotel corporations based in the United States. Specifically, the researchers, after lengthy discussions with industry leaders, have identified three areas of concentration: 1) corporate strategy and management, 2) financial management and risk reduction and 3) organizational transformation and workforce/workplace issues.

Patricia Moody, dean of the College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management, said the focus was selected because the strength and success of hotels are integrally tied to convention business, attractions, rental cars, air travel, food service and retail.

"The travel and tourism industry is in flux," Moody said. "More than 6.6 million workers have lost jobs in the last two years. Industry leaders report that the Internet reservations systems and online travel services are among the greatest threats, as they impinge on profit margins. Since 2000, the hotel industry has experienced a decrease in occupancy, revenue per available rooms and operating profit."

Joel Smith, dean of the Moore School of Business, said the center will bring a national focus to the industry, which is a need that has emerged since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"A new era for the industry began after September 11," Smith said. "Now a program with national reach is needed to address concerns about national security, technology, economic impacts and more."

Plans call for the Sloan Center, when fully operational, to work in tandem with USC's proposed Center for Tourism and Technology Research, which will be housed in Moody's college. A USC alumnus has pledged $2 million for that center if the state allots monies from its Centers of Economic Excellence/Endowed Chairs Program.

In 1990, the Sloan Foundation established its industry centers program to create academic communities that would cultivate a thorough understanding of a particular industry through research and observation and ultimately make practical contributions to the industries studied.

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