About Us

About Us

The Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network, which also covered Recreation and Events Management, was established in May 2000 as part the Learning and Teaching Support Network, which in turn then became part of the Higher Education Academy. There were 24 Subject Centres across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in total. The network of subject centres was disbanded in 2011, and their roles at the Higher Education Academy replaced by a number of Discipline Leads.

HLSTs aims and values are detailed in a Strategic Plan.

HLST worked towards these aims through a variety of activities, most of which you can find out more about on this website. To achieve its aims HLST worked closely with:

Subject Associations

• The Council for Hospitality Management Education - CHME
• The Association for Tourism in Higher Education - ATHE
• Leisure Studies Association - LSA
• Habia - Hair, Beauty, Nails and Spa Industries
• Association for Events Management Education - AEME

Professional Bodies

• British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences - BASES
• The Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity - IMSPA
• Institute of Hospitality - IOH

Sector Skills Councils

There are 25 Sector Skills Councils nationally, HLST works with three of them:

• SkillsActive - The Sector Skills Council for the Active Leisure and Learning Industry.
• People 1st - The Sector Skills Council for the Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism industries.
• Skillsmart - The Sector Skills Council for Retail.