Hospitality & Tourism Degrees Abroad: Costs, Countries, and How to Apply

Where you can study it

Every country below has verified programmes listed on Global Admissions. Figures are the cheapest-to-median sourced tuition per country, not a currency conversion — tap through to the sample programmes below for individual, linkable listings.

Figures are the fee as recorded on Global Admissions from each programme's own listing — basis (per year, per semester, or per credit) can vary by programme; verify the exact figure directly on the university's own page before budgeting.

Sample programmes

A cheapest-first sample of individual, sourced programmes — each one links to its own page on Global Admissions.

Fees as recorded from each programme's own listing; verify on the university's page before budgeting.

The famous names

You'll hear these names come up constantly if you research hospitality schools — here's what each one actually is, so you can look past the brand recognition and check whether it fits you.

What you're actually paying for

France carries both the most listed programmes and some of the lowest sourced tuition in Global Admissions' catalogue. The country has a long tradition of vocational hospitality and tourism training, but the range within it is wide: a low-cost French track and a specialised master's at a different French institution can sit at very different price points, so a country-level average tells you less here than in most subjects.

At the other end, the UK, Ireland, and Finland show the highest sourced tuition across the 12 countries Global Admissions compares. The University of Surrey, for example, lists overseas fees of £23,800 for a standard year of its International Hospitality Management BSc — but its professional training placement year is charged separately, at roughly 20% of that full-time fee. What the fee includes varies more in this subject than most: some programmes bundle a supervised industry placement into tuition, others charge for it separately, and some expect you to arrange and fund it yourself. Check the specific programme page for what's included.

How admission actually works

Hospitality and tourism programmes generally admit on school-leaving grades for a bachelor's, sometimes alongside a short interview or motivation letter that hospitality schools use more than most academic subjects to gauge fit for a service-facing career. EHL, for instance, requires applicants to have completed the secondary-school exams that qualify them for university admission in their own country, to be at least 18 before the course starts, and to have studied mathematics in their final three years of school — plus a minimum C1 English level (IELTS Academic 7.0 overall with 7.0 in speaking and listening is one accepted route) for English-medium study. The University of Surrey publishes a lighter typical offer of BCC to CCC at A level, with IELTS Academic 6.5 overall and a lower 5.5 minimum in most individual components.

Master's-level programmes typically expect a related undergraduate degree or relevant work experience in hospitality, tourism, or a related service industry. The sector is regionally branded: a Swiss or French hotel-school name carries specific weight with employers in ways a generic university listing doesn't always convey. It's worth researching the individual school's industry reputation and alumni outcomes in your target market, not just its tuition and location.

The industry placement, honestly

A defining feature of many hospitality and tourism degrees is a mandatory industry placement or internship, sometimes lasting a full semester or longer. Whether it's paid, where it can take place, and whether it's arranged for you or something you have to source yourself differs by programme — this is one of the most consequential details a headline tuition figure won't tell you, so ask about it directly before you apply. The University of Surrey's separate ~20% placement-year fee is one concrete example of how a placement can show up as its own line item rather than being folded into the standard tuition.

Search demand around this subject backs this up directly — real questions people ask before applying are about internships and first jobs ("How was it to do a hotel management internship abroad?", "MSc Hotel Management degree & Jobs") at least as often as about admission requirements. Treat placement structure and post-study work realism as a core comparison criterion, not an optional extra you check after you've already picked a school.

Judging quality without a licensing regulator

Hospitality isn't a licensed profession, so there's no regulator publishing an approved-school list the way there is in fields like nursing or law. UN Tourism's TedQual certification is the closest sourced equivalent: a quality-certification scheme that examines a school's employers, students, curriculum, pedagogical system, faculty, management, and its fulfilment of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. It's worth checking whether a programme you're considering holds it — but treat it as a quality signal to weigh alongside placement structure and industry reputation, not a licence or a guarantee.

Before you shortlist a programme

A few checks specific to hospitality and tourism admissions — worth running through before you apply.

1. 1

   Ask what the tuition figure actually includes

   Uniform costs, placement fees, and work-term travel are commonly billed separately from headline tuition in this subject. Get the full cost breakdown from the school directly, not just the advertised fee.

2. 2

   Check the industry placement terms specifically

   Find out whether the placement is paid, where it can take place, and whether the school arranges it for you or you have to source it yourself — this varies a lot by programme and materially affects the real cost and value of the degree.

3. 3

   Research the school's regional reputation in your target job market

   Hospitality employers weigh specific school names more than they do in many other subjects. A programme with a strong reputation in one region may carry less weight elsewhere — check outcomes for the market you actually want to work in.

4. 4

   Confirm the teaching language for the specific programme

   Some French and Italian hospitality programmes teach primarily in the local language even where English-taught tracks exist at the same school — check the individual programme page.

5. 5

   Check for a quality-certification mark like TedQual, alongside placement and reputation

   UN Tourism's TedQual certification examines a school's employers, curriculum, faculty, and ethics compliance — a useful signal in a field with no licensing regulator, but not a substitute for checking placement structure and outcomes yourself.

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Scholarship and funding routes worth checking

None of these are hospitality-specific schemes — they're broad government, EU, or bilateral routes that may cover a hospitality- or tourism-related master's if the individual programme and your nationality qualify. Verify the current call before treating any of them as a plan.

Each route name links to its official source. Verify the current call and eligibility before applying — cycles and seat counts change annually.

Frequently asked questions