One of the most important things people look at when choosing a career is its versatility and opportunities for growth. Besides versatility and growth opportunities, others look at how exciting an industry is. If you are in this category, a career in hospitality can be the perfect choice.
A job in the hospitality industry can be fascinating, but as exciting as your job could be, you will still be looking for better opportunities in related careers. This guide highlights five different careers that a hospitality job could lead to.
1. Hotel Management
The hotel industry is the most obvious path you can take in your career in hospitality.
The role of a hotel manager is to oversee the everyday running of a hotel, from budget management to marketing, general maintenance, and housekeeping. But of course, other people will work under you in the hotel’s various departments.
If this is a path you want to explore, you must have excellent interpersonal skills and some experience on lower leadership levels in a hotel setting. Dealing with people calls for learning a little bit of psychology.
2. AI and Automation (Guest Experience)
Hospitality professionals already understand hospitality soft skills like service, empathy, and creating memorable experiences. In 2025, this same expertise is merging with Artificial Intelligence.
Hotels are now using AI chatbots, predictive guest analytics, and automation tools to personalise service and cut costs.
If you have worked in hotels, restaurants, or guest relations, you already have the human side mastered. What you need next is AI literacy: learning how tools like guest-data dashboards, chat automation, or AI concierge systems work. These are becoming standard in most large hotel chains.
Those who understand both service and systems will lead the next decade of hospitality.
Why this matters now (2025):
- According to PwC’s 2025 AI Jobs Barometer, employees with AI skills earn a 56% wage premium.
- AI-linked roles are growing across industries, including hospitality, with around multiple fold increase in AI-related job postings in 2025.
- The shift is clear: hospitality professionals with AI knowledge are becoming the bridge between human service and digital transformation.
3. Event Management
If you are good at working under the pressure of deadlines and delivering quality, event management is the perfect career path for you. Event managers work in various industries, from entertainment to sports and conventions.
The role usually involves working as a part of the bigger team, and you will be working to ensure the success of every aspect of an event, from catering, arranging locations, setting them up, and every other detail of the event.
You must also be willing to work long hours, especially when trying to beat deadlines and ensure the success of an event. The median salary for an event manager is $60,000 a year but can go over $100,000 with experience. If you want to make more, consider starting an event planning company that needs some investment.
4. Tourism and Travel
With a hospitality degree, you will have all the necessary skills to work in the tourism industry in different capacities. Tourism and travel jobs include working on airlines, cruise ships, private jets, tourist hotels, etc.
Also, you could wind up in guest-facing positions such as reception and VIP lounge assistant or back-end roles such as management, marketing, and tour planning.
If you are good at creative writing, consider starting a blog on tourism and travel, which can help complement your income.
5. Executive Chef
The mention of executive chef conjures images of celebrity chefs such as Reuben Riffel or UK-based Gordon Ramsay. Thousands of kitchens may not have such big names, but they are making tons of money in the industry and always looking to hire talent.
The bigger part of being an executive chef involves cooking. So, to become a chief executive, you may need to take culinary classes to get a basic knowledge of how a kitchen works and have a love for cooking.
However, the role of an executive chef goes beyond that to include managing kitchen staff, sourcing ingredients, developing new recipes, and ensuring hygiene in the kitchen and restaurant.
Conclusion
Here you go, some of the exciting and different careers that a hospitality job can lead to. Our guide on Hospitality Career paths takes this discussion further and explores many more such options. So, if you are looking to explore more, please head on to our guide for further research.
