With an internationally recognized faculty and strong industry relationships with world-renowned resorts, attractions and restaurants, young hospitality professionals from throughout the globe are flocking to Orlando, FL to enroll in the Graduate Certificate program at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. The intensive six-month program offers international students the opportunity to study and experience the hospitality industry firsthand in the world’s premiere tourist destination, with a graduate-level curriculum and a required internship at the Walt Disney World® Resort.

In addition to the valuable work experience and the highly sought-after education, UCF Rosen College Graduate Certificate students are often treated to behind-the-scenes tours of award-winning resorts and attractions, as well as guest lectures and presentations from top industry executives.

Recently, UCF Rosen College professor, Dr. Deborah Breiter, traveled just two miles from campus with her Convention Sales and Service class to expose her Graduate Certificate students to the sales and marketing intricacies of the Peabody Orlando, the top-rated convention hotel in the United States, according to Cvent – the world’s largest meetings and event management technology company.

Dr. Breiter and her class of 12 international students, who hail from 10 different nations, toured the AAA Four Diamond hotel with the Peabody Hotel Company’s VP of Sales & Marketing, Gregg Herning.

During the tour of the more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space, Herning discussed his role as VP of Sales & Marketing, his 17-person sales office at the Peabody Orlando, and the different markets the hotel sells to, as well as booking windows and booking pace.

“The students learned a lot about how a convention hotel deploys its sales force and the dynamics of the marketplace,” said Breiter. “They also learned the importance of convention services in delivering the ‘dream’ to clients.”

Dr. Breiter’s Convention Sales and Service class offers students a process-oriented approach to selling the convention/conference market and servicing the events.

The Spring 2012 cohort of international students will complete the UCF Rosen College Graduate Certificate program on July 12.

For more information on the Graduate Certificate program at UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, please visit hospitality.ucf.edu.