Mission:
To lead cutting-edge tourism and hospitality research that is relevant and directly applicable to the tourism industry in South Carolina. This will ultimately improve South Carolina's competitiveness as a tourism destination, thus securing sustainable employment in the tourism sector.

Vision:
Position the Center of Economic Excellence in Tourism as THE center of excellence for tourism research in the Americas.

Goals:

• Become a one-stop resource of relevant information and intelligence to all stakeholders in the tourism industries of South Carolina by providing cost-effective research
• Act as a vehicle for staff, research students and associates to undertake both applied and academic tourism related research
• Generate external funding
• Attract high quality students
• Attract high quality visiting scholars
• Disseminate research via symposiums, conferences, research seminars, website, newsletters social network marketing
• Train domestic and international leaders and scholars about the tourism industry
• Help formulate public- and private-sector policies that will lead to improvement in tourism planning and development in South Carolina