Aug. 27--If South Florida's sandy beaches and tropical climes make it a mecca for tourists from around the world, it's no wonder the area has also become a lure for the people who serve them. 

With hundreds of hotels, cruise lines and resorts here, the area's colleges and universities have seen their programs in hospitality management grow in size and prestige. 

Miami-Dade County is home to five programs in hospitality management, training students from across Florida and around the world in the nuts and bolts of keeping the clients happy and profits up. 

"It's a natural fit for this area," said Joseph West, dean of Florida International University's School of Hospitality Management. 

FIU's hospitality management program, the area's oldest, consistently ranks in the top five of university-based programs. Rhode Island-based Johnson & Wales attracts hundreds of future chefs to its North Miami campus. And Miami-Dade Community College's tourism and hospitality management programs have long been turning out graduates who go into the work force or on to university programs. 

Smaller programs at St. Thomas University and Florida Memorial College also bring diverse students into the mix, as do the offerings at Nova Southeastern University and Broward Community College in Davie. 

"This is a very exciting time to be in the industry," said Stuart Blumberg, president and CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association. "There are tremendous opportunities for the young people of this community." 

For the colleges, hospitality management has been the perfect mix of filling a need in the community and creating programs that can build enrollment and, in turn, revenue. More than 500 students are enrolled in the area's hospitality programs, which expect to see their populations grow as classes begin over the next two weeks. 

From the Panhandle to the Keys, Florida's hotels and resorts pack in the guests year-round. 

While tourism is expected to grow by less than 1 percent nationally this summer, according to the Travel Industry Association of America, the South Florida market is still going strong, a hot spot for international travelers. 

Since 1996, revenues from room, food and beverage sales grew 64 percent, from $573 million to $942 million. And at about $50 billion a year, hospitality, travel and tourism are Florida's largest industry. 

For years, the training of hotel managers, concierges and restaurant managers was done mainly through apprenticeship-type programs; employees started at the ground floor and worked their way up. 

But increasingly, hospitality enterprises have adopted a more businesslike model, in which understanding the bottom line is valued. 

The changes have meant that hospitality management education programs have become increasingly popular. The University of Central Florida received a $10 million gift from Orlando hotelier Harris Rosen to turn a program in its business school into a full-fledged college. 

The relatively small number of schools means successful ones draw from all over the world. 

"There are a handful of programs that are thought to be really good, and those schools can attract the very best students," Blumberg said. 

That was true for FIU hospitality graduate student Israel Johnson from Kingston, Jamaica. 

"I had heard about FIU and how good its program was, and Miami was a natural lure," Johnson said. 

Hospitality management programs are much like traditional business management degrees but focus on the industry, reshaping accounting classes to match the nuances of hotels, restaurants and cruise lines. 

There is a heavy emphasis on customer service, a key part of the bottom line. 

Most programs require an intensive internship or field study that places students in the jobs for hands-on training. 

For Johnson & Wales students, that experience comes in the university-owned hotel, the Bay Harbor Inn in Bay Harbor Islands. Its small size, fewer than 50 rooms and suites, means students are deeply involved in the hotel's operations, said Saturnin Tomeho, the hotel's general manager. 

"They get to see how their individual actions affect a guest's experience," Tomeho said. 

The five programs in Miami-Dade are kept busy with booming hospitality in the county. 

After a dry spell of 31 years, Miami Beach's hotel industry is seeing rapid growth. The streak was broken by the 1998 opening of the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. 

Several new hotels are to open on Collins Avenue near Lincoln Road in the next few months. The $150 million Shore Club recently opened and will be followed by the Royal Palm Crown Plaza, the Ritz Carlton South Beach, the W Hotel and the Setai Resort & Residences. 

The schools say they aren't competing directly against one another and have found their own niches. 

Miami-Dade Community College's program has begun to focus on training workers already in the industry, often at entry-level jobs. The school revamped its hospitality program after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education earlier this year. 

"It's not just the upper-level management that need formal training," said David Countin, director of the MDCC program. 

Housekeeping services, for example, Countin said, use computer systems to track room supplies and numbers of towels pilfered by guests. 

Although many will enter the industry without formal training and work up the ranks, industry experts say the combination of practical experience and an advanced degree will be valued. 

"It's 50-50, honestly," said Sabina Tonarelli-Frey, human resources director at the Loews Miami Beach and a graduate of FIU's program. "Knowing how to manage a front-desk staff and actually having worked at one is the ideal combination." 

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(c) 2001, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.