Joshua Kalahikiola Alexander Strengthens Global Guest Experiences Through UF’s Online M.S. in Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management Program
The magical memories created by travel experience can last a lifetime. For Joshua Kalahikiola Alexander, a childhood visit to Disneyland with his mother and grandmother was more than fun, it was formative.
“It taught me that experiences can create identity, family connection and joy,” Alexander said. “That memory is why I love this field, and why my career now revolves around creating experiences (physical and digital) that inspire and endure.”
As Vice President of Global Partnerships for a multinational interactive entertainment co-development studio, Alexander leads a 24-hour global workforce supporting some of the world’s most complex interactive and immersive experiences. Seeking deeper insight into how large-scale guest experiences are designed, managed and sustained, he enrolled in the University of Florida’s online Master of Science in Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management program and graduated in Fall 2025.
“The THEM program didn’t just complement my career; it transformed it,” he said.
Building a Dedication to Great Experiences
The curiosity sparked by Alexander’s first Disney trip guided his early career in project management and operations, where he learned how creative, technical and operational systems intersect. As he progressed from senior advisor to director and eventually vice president, Alexander began to recognize a growing challenge across industries shaped by immersive and interactive design.
“I realized that the industry’s biggest challenges weren’t technological; they were experiential and operational,” he said. “We had increasingly ambitious creative visions, but our operational and organizational systems struggled to keep pace. Experiences became richer, but also more fragile.”
Searching for a graduate program that addressed both the human and operational sides of guest experience, Alexander was drawn to the UF’s online Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management graduate program. The program’s curriculum bridged traditional tourism and hospitality principles with emerging immersive digital environments, including artificial intelligence (AI), aligning closely with the challenges he faced in his professional role.
“The THEM program doesn’t just teach you concepts; it teaches you how to apply them to real-world systems,” he said. “It challenges you intellectually, expands your perspective, and gives you tools you can use immediately in your career.”
The flexibility of the online format allowed Alexander to pursue graduate study while continuing his career from Orlando, Fla.
“Leading global operations across multiple continents and time zones, the online format gave me the flexibility and structure I needed to pursue an advanced degree while maintaining a demanding leadership role,” he said. “UF’s asynchronous format allowed me to apply concepts from every course directly into my work, often the very same day I learned them.”
While enrolled in the program, Alexander was promoted to the vice president role and took on responsibility for global experience operations, client partnerships and strategic growth. Drawing directly from course frameworks and faculty guidance, he implemented systems that improved workforce planning, reliability modeling and crisis readiness. These experiences culminated in his graduate capstone project, the Experience Reliability Architecture (ERA). Alexander developed this evidence-based framework to improve reliability, emotional resonance and operational continuity across both digital and physical immersive experiences.
“Every professor in the THEM program shaped my career in a demonstratively impactful way,” Alexander said. “Each of these faculty members expanded my perspective in unique ways, and their combined teachings directly shaped the structure, methodology and academic rigor behind ERA.”
For Alexander, tourism, hospitality and event management extend beyond logistics and operations into the moments that shape how people feel, remember and connect.
“Tourism and hospitality are built on the magic of human connection, where moments of memory, emotion and story come together to create joy,” he said.
A Native Hawaiian and child of immigrants, Alexander hopes his story encourages others to recognize the value of their lived experiences.
“My hope is that my journey encourages others, especially fellow Polynesians, children of immigrants, and first-generation professionals, to pursue opportunities that once felt out of reach,” he said. “Curiosity, self-awareness, and grit can carry you far.”
About the online Master of Science in Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management
The 100% online, instructor-led Master of Science in Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management is designed for busy, working professionals and those just getting started in their careers.
This program allows you to earn your degree and apply what you learn in the classroom to your current and future work environments. Using real data from top industry experts, graduate students develop resource-based views and comprehensive strategies for managing and leading tourism, hospitality and event organizations. Students will also obtain a holistic perspective of environmental concerns that impact visitation to sensitive areas, including how to build sustainable initiatives into a business model and how to use unique faculty-developed tools to better respond to these issues.
Ignite your tourism, hospitality and event management career with our streamlined admissions process.
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