Inside Scoop to a Career in Hospitality Management

A career in hospitality management can be a very lucrative one for the right person. If you are a natural leader and an energetic team player, and enjoy traveling the world while helping others, a degree in hospitality may be worth pursuing in college! A bachelor’s degree in hospitality management could open doors to the world of tourism, event planning, and traveling for future professionals. Students can later explore earning a master’s degree in business and management to further their careers in hospitality management and take on higher leadership roles. The career possibilities are endless with a bachelor’s in hospitality management!

What Should I Look For in a Hospitality Management Program?

When seeking a degree in hospitality, it’s crucial to find a school that offers a solid curriculum. You’ll want to learn techniques, concepts, and various management skills while getting plenty of hands-on experiences so that you are prepared to be at the forefront of the industry. Additionally, a strong hospitality management program will offer rigorous courses in hotel and restaurant management marketing, and finance. Finally, students should consider going to accredited institutions that provide internship and study abroad opportunities.

Bachelor’s Degree: Courses in Hospitality Management

Depending on the institution you attend, the courses you’ll take to earn your bachelor’s in hospitality management may vary. However, most programs include certain core classes that introduce the fundamental concepts in food and beverage service, human resources, and business management.

Below are a few examples of classes you can expect to take:

Foundations of Hotel Management

This is the introductory course that addresses basic hotel management principles and procedures. Students will become familiar with resort and hotel operations like security systems maintenance and the human resources strategies used in hiring people.

Human Resource Management

Hospitality managers must be well-versed in human resources. This class is designed to give a closer look at the legal, operational, and psychological ramifications of hiring and firing, as well as training people.

Service & Beverage Management

Exemplary customer service is essential in the hospitality industry. That being said, students have to learn how to provide excellent customer care in a restaurant setting. This class teaches students how to navigate point-of-sale systems, handle cash, and communicate effectively with customers.

Technology Management in Hospitality

As new technology emerges every year, it’s important for professionals to keep up. This is no exception in the hospitality industry! Students must adapt to and learn about the current technological landscape of the field and its effectiveness, and how these new technologies can be successfully integrated into their field of work.

Hospitality Facilities & Operations Management

A well-rounded education in hospitality isn’t complete without providing some insight into architectural design, floor layouts, industry practices, and space planning when it comes to design features and concepts popularly used in food and hospitality management. In this class, students learn about how the construction of spaces affects facility operations.

Career Opportunities in Hospitality

With a bachelor’s degree in hospitality, graduates can work at hotels, restaurants, wineries, resorts, spas, and a wide variety of other service-oriented venues. Employers in the hospitality field are always looking for young professionals with versatile leadership skills and the ability to manage a diverse workforce while maintaining the highest standards of customer service.

Guest Relations

If you enjoy interacting with different people and providing good customer service, then you may do well working in the guest relations sector. Careers in guest relations can be found in a variety of industries, but mostly within hotel management.

  • Front office manager – perform daily duties, like maintaining guest accounts, coordinating hotel sales, addressing customer concerns, overseeing employees, and more
  • Sommelier – recommend wine and food pairings, help chefs create updated wine listings for their establishment, promote wine-based events
  • Director of housekeeping – oversee general appearance and cleanliness of a hotel, maintain supplies, control labor costs, etc.

Food & Beverage

Those with a restaurant background or desire to work with food and beverage can do so with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management.

  • Catering assistant – work directly for a catering company, hotel, or restaurant to oversee production, arrange bookings, and more
  • Restaurant manager – ensure that a restaurant is operating efficiently
  • Sous chef – report to a head chef and oversee meal preparations and kitchen operations

Tourism Management

Do you have a passion for traveling? With a bachelor’s in hospitality management, you can take on jobs like becoming a flight attendant or a cruise ship director that will take you all around the world. If you prefer to stay in one place and still work in the travel sector, then you can explore the following career opportunities.

  • Travel agent – research and plan trips for individuals, couples, and groups, and be able to find and recommend hotels, book excursions, and share the latest deals and flights available
  • Tour guide – prepare itineraries and provide public or private tours of popular towns, historical sights, museums, and other popular destinations, with extensive knowledge on these areas and the ability to answer questions pertaining to tours
  • Marketing & public relations – a positive name in the press can greatly impact how people judge a destination; someone with a marketing and public relations background could help develop that

Event Planning

Have you always been a good planner and multi-tasker? Do you love hands-on organization and interaction? You could be an excellent event planner!

  • Wedding planner – oversee the different aspects of a wedding and reception, and play an active role in helping to find a venue, create seating charts, etc.
  • In-house event planner – book clients, host regular meetings, arrange post-event clean-up, and solve problems on the spot when it comes to event details
  • Conference organizer – arrange day-of itineraries, figure out seating, prepare keynote speaker necessities, and more for a conference, expo, trade show, or other events

Leisure & Entertainment

Who doesn’t love to have some fun while working? Here are some career opportunities in the entertainment industry.

  • Theme park manager – keep rollercoasters up and running, book shows, plan promotional events, and more
  • Casino host – work with a casino to make sure customers are happy, perform day-to-day duties like getting to know regular customers and offering incentives to keep them coming back
  • Spa director – oversee appointments and scheduling, maintain inventory, etc.

Conclusion

A bachelor’s degree in hotel management prepares students for an impressive variety of careers in the $5-trillion global hospitality industry. It may be the perfect major for you to pursue if you are passionate about working with others, are organized and a good multi-tasker, and wish to work in travel and tourism, leisure and entertainment, food and beverage, or hotel and resort fields. Oftentimes, event planners work on flexible schedules and run their own businesses. So, there’s always room for entrepreneurship with a degree in hotel management, too!