Hospitality management involves applying management concepts and valuable administrative skills in the various areas of hospitality. Worldwide, the hospitality industry is among the largest, most lucrative, rewarding, and fastest growing industry.

Hospitality entails dealing and relating with humans in formal, pleasant, and graceful ways. It simply revolves around selling services, experiences, and relaxation. However, engaging people from different places and different walks of life and having to cater to them might be overwhelming a lot of the time. This is where a formal training in Hospitality Management is important.

As a Hospitality Manager of a resort or a hotel, part of the required duties is to supervise all the departments that cut across the hotel or resort. For instance, in a hotel, there is usually a restaurant, spa services, guest services, front desk, maintenance, and a lot more, it is the duty of a hospitality manager to oversee and organize all these departments and every other service they offer.

Hospitality managers are always looking for new creative ways and ideas to make the business better and improve the services rendered.

Exploring Careers in Hospitality Management

Hospitality management is a major part of the hospitality industry which in most cases require a degree either from a university, a college, or a short course online. A formal training in hospitality management is important because it opens you up to all the aspects of the hospitality industry and the technicalities of the profession and you also learn the proper ways to relate and manage people in a professional, hospitable manner.

Some of the careers that you can explore in Hospitality industry include Hotel Administration, Hotel and Tourism Management, or Hotel Management. Some of the places where hospitality managers can work include restaurants, hotel reservation agencies, parks, convention centers, destination marketing organizations, and lots more.

Oftentimes, hospitality management and hotel management are regarded as the same. The major difference between hospitality management and hotel management has to do with their scope of activities. Hospitality management covers everything that has to do with the hospitality industry while hotel management is only limited to hotels.

Career Prospects In Hospitality Management

There are various kinds of jobs that can be gotten with a degree in hospitality management, and of course, there are jobs that do not necessarily require a degree in hospitality management, what is essential and required is the skills.

Before you decide to study or make a career switch to hospitality management, you must know and also have an idea on which aspect of hospitality management you want to focus on in the long run.

Jobs that can be explored with a degree in Hospitality Management includes but not limited to:

• Travel Agent

A travel agent is an individual that helps with the process of planning a trip. They usually give consultation services and travel packages for individuals looking to change their environments. Asides from all of these services, they also help with visa application processes, they help with booking of flights, help with hotel reservations and also connect individuals to tourist agents in a situation like holidays and a new environment.

A Travel Agents earns an average of $200,000 in a year.

• Holiday counselors

A Holiday counselor is an individual that advises people on what country they should visit, the kinds of things they can explore in the country, the kind of airline and plane ticket they should get, and lots more. All of this counseling is usually done based on the customer/client budget. Some employers do not require a degree before hiring a Holiday counselor, however, most Employers require the applicant to have a degree due to the exposure and experience they acquired during the cause of getting a degree.

A Holiday Counselor earns the average of $36,000 in a year.

• Event planners

Event planning may not seem like a difficult job to do; however, event planning requires a lot of skills like patience, interpersonal skill, proactiveness, good communication skill, and many more. Event planners do not necessarily need a certificate to practice but just like every other field, they have to be part of a body that will issue the license to work. Event planners majorly organize events of all sorts to give an expected end.

An Event Planner earns an average of $66,000 in a year.

• Property Operations Manager

Property operations manager are also called Real Estate agents. They manage and maintain a property, collect rents from the occupants of the building, administration of the property, search for good tenants for short and long-term lease, and also sell properties.

A Property Operations Manager earns an average of $60,000 in a year

• Marketing and Public Relations

Marketing and Public Relations personnel is responsible for managing the reputation and image of the company both within and outside the company environment. They represent their various organizations. They also assist with creating the company marketing materials, they promote, protect and advertise the brand they work for.

A Marketing and Public Relation officer earns an average of $57,000 in a year.

• Hotel General Manager

A Hotel General Manager is usually the one in charge of the hotel, he oversees the affairs of the hotel, maintains the property, manages people to do their jobs effectively, and provide excellent services to the customers.

A Hotel General Manager earns the average of $50,000 in a year.

Other careers in Hospitality management include:

• Food Services Manager.
• Entertainment Manager.
• Accommodation manager.
• Catering manager.
• Chef.
• Conference centre manager.
• Fast food restaurant manager.
• Public house manager.
• Tourism officer.
• Tour Manager

To be able to work in the hospitality management sector, it is necessary to get the relevant skills and experiences needed in the field. Some hospitality management degree courses such as a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management provide opportunities for students to practice while studying to help them become familiar with the hospitality management sector.

Employers in the hospitality sector include:

• Universities
• Armed forces
• Hospitals
• Local authorities
• Event venues
• Restaurants
• Hotels

Asides from getting a degree in Hospitality Management, there are some basic soft skills required. These skills include: 

• Ability to network
• critical, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• verbal and written communication skills
• negotiation and teamwork skills
• leadership and delegation skills

The scope of Hospitality management is wide and an individual has to know the basics of Hospitality management and also know exactly the career prospect they’d like to specialize when trying to get a degree in Hospitality management.

 

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