Why Internships Matter: Virginia Tech on Developing Future Leaders

In Series III of Newport Hospitality Group’s internship coverage, Virginia Tech’s Tom Deutsch shares an educator’s perspective on experiential learning, mentorship, and preparing students for success

By Wayne West III

As a member of the advisory board for Virginia Tech’s Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, I’ve had the opportunity to see firsthand the value of connecting hospitality students with the industry long before graduation.

For Newport Hospitality Group, that relationship is especially meaningful. Working closely with Virginia Tech gives us access to talented students who are building a strong business foundation while gaining the practical experience necessary to contribute inside a hotel. Internships, job shadowing, guest lectures, and hands-on learning create a bridge between what students study in Blacksburg and what actually happens every day in an operating hotel.

Just as importantly, the relationship gives those of us already in the industry an opportunity to invest in its future. When students spend time with experienced hotel professionals, they begin to understand not only how hotels operate, but also what strong leadership looks like and where their own interests might take them.

To explore that connection from the educator’s perspective, I spoke with Tom Deutsch, Professor of Practice and Assistant Department Head, Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Pamplin College of Business, about how Virginia Tech prepares students for hospitality careers, why experiential learning matters, and what makes partnerships between universities and hotel companies successful.

Wayne West III: Virginia Tech’s hospitality program is part of the Pamplin College of Business. How does that shape the way you prepare students for their careers?

Tom Deutsch: We’re fortunate to be part of the college of business. Not every hospitality program is, and that business core gives our students an important foundation. Hospitality is a people business, but it is also a business. Hotels have to generate revenue and create value.

Our goal is for students to be business-ready when they graduate. We want them to understand the value they can bring to an organization and to have enough experience that they can begin contributing from day one.

Experiential learning is a major part of that. Our students complete 700 hours of industry experience. The first 300 hours give them exposure to hospitality, whether that is working as a server, at the front desk, in a private club or in another part of the industry. Later, after they’ve taken courses in areas such as lodging and finance, they complete another 400 hours of field study. By then, they have a much better understanding of how a hospitality business operates.

West III: Why is that real-world experience so important?

Deutsch: In the classroom, we can talk about theory and use case studies, but there is a difference between hearing a story and living it. You cannot completely simulate a difficult guest interaction or all the decisions that have to be made when something unexpected happens in an operating hotel.

That experience also helps students figure out where they belong. Hospitality is a huge industry. A student may discover that hotels are right for them, or that they are more interested in private clubs, food and beverage, sales, or another area.

For more advanced field experience, we especially want a mentorship component. We want someone to take the student under their wing, let them sit in on meetings, and expose them to things like forecasting, revenue management, and P&L reviews. That helps them understand how all the pieces of the business fit together.

West III: Newport professionals regularly spend time with Virginia Tech students, both on campus and in operating hotels. How does that add to their education?

Deutsch: We love having guest speakers because they can make academic material real. Every student is different, and you never know which story will connect with someone. When a general manager or sales director talks about what they deal with every day, they can connect what we teach academically with what is actually happening in the industry.

Getting students into hotels is important for the same reason. Early in the program, job shadowing can expose them to different areas of hospitality. They may see sales, food and beverage, private clubs, or hotel operations. You cannot script when a problem will happen in a working environment, and that is part of what makes the experience so valuable. As students progress into their junior and senior years, those experiences help them connect the dots between their courses and the business itself.

West III: From your perspective, what makes the relationship between Virginia Tech and Newport Hospitality Group work?

Deutsch: Consistency matters. Hospitality can be a high-turnover industry, and sometimes when the person who champions a university relationship leaves, the relationship disappears. Newport has provided consistency in Blacksburg.

We have people we can count on who are willing to let students shadow them, hire our students, and give them meaningful field-study experiences. Newport also has graduates of our program within the organization, which strengthens that connection.

Your personal involvement on our advisory board matters, too. It demonstrates that you want to support the next generation of hospitality leaders. When companies are willing to make that kind of investment, they are helping develop future professionals who already understand the industry and are eager to build careers in it.

West III: What distinguishes a great internship from a student simply filling a summer position?

Deutsch: A lot depends on engagement. We see students who are rock stars, and we see students who simply go through the motions. As educators, we try to nurture that passion and encourage students to volunteer, ask questions, and take advantage of every opportunity.

Employers also play an important role. The best experiences give students exposure to the bigger picture and to people willing to be open about the realities of the business. Students need to see that you do not hit the target every month. The learning comes from asking: What happened? How do we respond? How do we fix it?

That is where mentorship becomes so important. A strong mentor lets a student see the real business and helps teach them how to solve problems rather than simply giving them tasks to complete.

West III: The hotel business is changing quickly. How are you preparing students for technology, AI, and an increasingly challenging operating environment?

Deutsch: It has become harder, particularly over the past decade and since COVID, to operate a hospitality business profitably. So, we put strong emphasis on understanding the hotel P&L, top-line revenue management, efficiency, and productivity.

Technology and AI are part of that. Students need to understand how technology can improve the guest experience and make an operation more effective, but we also want them to think critically. We do not want them simply to go to an AI tool for an answer. They need to understand the situation, think it through, and decide.

You cannot predict everything that will happen in hospitality. Students have to learn to think on their feet and understand that every decision has consequences. Technology should help them do their jobs better; it should not remove the people from hospitality or diminish the guest experience.

West III: Hospitality students today have an enormous range of potential career paths. How do you help them determine where they fit?

Deutsch: One of the strengths of our program is that we do not point everyone in one direction. We give students a strong business mindset and help them determine what makes them excited to come to work every day.

Many students double major or combine hospitality with areas such as finance, sales, accounting, marketing or supply chain. Hospitality companies need many different kinds of professionals, not just people in operations.

Ultimately, companies are looking for people who can communicate, think critically, and understand business. A student might combine hospitality with corporate finance and eventually work for a REIT or use supply-chain knowledge in the restaurant industry. The opportunity is to help students see those possibilities and build a path toward them.

West III: When you see Virginia Tech graduates become successful hospitality leaders, what makes you proud?

Deutsch: At the end of the day, we give them a foundation. When they become successful, that success belongs to them.

We gave them a business background, critical-thinking skills, and experience managing and working with people. We introduced them to concepts and brought industry professionals into the classroom. Then they built on that foundation.

There is certainly a proud “I knew them when” moment because we remember many of these students from when they were 18. To see them become successful in what I believe is the most exciting industry in the world is incredibly rewarding.

West III: If we revisit today’s students 10 or 15 years from now, what kind of leaders do you hope they have become?

Deutsch: Hospitality is a people-minded industry, so I hope they become leaders who are loved and respected by their people.

There is a fine line between productivity and people. Great leaders have to understand both. I hope our graduates have the critical-thinking and leadership skills to manage whatever challenges the future brings while remaining people whom employees and guests value and respect.

That human connection is what makes our industry special, and I hope they never lose it.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayne West III is president of Newport Hospitality Group. He has spent more than four decades in hospitality and believes success never happens by accident. At Newport, he is the steady voice who’s tough when needed, loyal to his teams, and relentless about keeping performance on course. He grew up on the water and still finds his rhythm there, most often behind the wheel of a boat. Inside the company, he’s just as recognizable. The rock everyone leans on and the one famous for firing off early-morning texts that prove he’s already thinking three steps ahead.