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Keys College Adds Degrees In Tourism

FKCC administrators hope the college's location and availability of real-world experience in the hospitality industry will draw students from outside the island chain to its new programs.
Florida Keys Community College
FKCC administrators hope the college's location and availability of real-world experience in the hospitality industry will draw students from outside the island chain to its new programs.

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Florida Keys Community College, the only post-secondary education institution based in the island chain, is adding two new associate's degree programs, in Hospitality and Ecotourism Management and in Culinary Management.

The goal is to prepare students to work in the area's dominant industry: tourism — and take advantage of that industry for internships and expertise.  

"Those two programs seem to be the perfect fit for the Florida Keys," says Michelle Choate, chair of the college's Business Administration department. "The hospitality industry is tremendous down here and is sort of the core of our economy."

The Keys received an estimated 3 million visitors in 2014, according to the county's Tourist Development Council. The lodging industry varies from independently owned guesthouses to resorts owned by corporate investors. Restaurants range from tiki huts with  gas grills to fine dining.

The college is hoping to draw students nationally and even internationally with the new programs.

"We really want to be that place where people learn how to do things the Key West way," Choate says. "That is, having a tight community, making visits and the tourism experience wonderful, focusing on sustainability and ecotourism."

Copyright 2015 WLRN 91.3 FM

Nancy Klingener covers the Florida Keys for WLRN. Since moving to South Florida in 1989, she has worked for the Miami Herald, Solares Hill newspaper and the Monroe County Public Library.