The first National Graduate Institute of Tourism and Recreation Management in Taiwan was established at Donghua University to closely link the University's overall development, as well as consolidate all related academic fields to increase the effective study of tourism, recreation, leisure and related management issues in the training of professional tourism and recreation personnel.

With the vast undeveloped areas and resources on the east coast of Taiwan comes the expectation of increased job opportunity and tourism income that economic development brings. To reduce the developmental impact to nature as well as potentially negative influences to the local society, our primary goal in setting the guiding principles of this department are as follows:

1. Establish a basic tourism, recreation, and leisure study guideline which will help students learn to maintain and adhere to a long-term vision during a development process.

2. Work hands-on in development of tourism and recreation on the east coast of Taiwan to stress the importance of resource management, and assist the local government to develop tourism business while defining regulations needed to protect the natural resources.

3. Pursue to become a top tier graduate program of tourism, recreation, and leisure in Taiwan, and develop the most qualified graduate students to work for the government or tourism/recreation related fields to help improve the quality of life for the people of Taiwan.

4. Interact with other related departments including the departments of Sports and Leisure Management, Natural Resources, Environmental Policy, Culture and Races Relationship, Education, Economics, and others in order to provide a comprehensive and well-rounded research and study environment. This will facilitate a broader discussion opportunity in theory and practice for tourism, recreation, and leisure professionals, to better enable them to face a wider range of situations in the field.