What is Hospitality Management? Careers, Specializations, Skills, and More

Hospitality Management is an excellent career pathway if you are enthusiastic about the hospitality industry. 

The covid 19 pandemic has created suspicion in the minds of hospitality management graduates and hospitality businesses.

Here, there are several opportunities as this sector focuses on food, beverage, lodging, recreation, tourism, meetings, and events.

In this blog, we will delve into the specifics of hospitality management, its different careers, the specializations you can do, the skills required, and more. 

So, let’s cut to the chase and get right into the details.

What is Hospitality Management?

Hospitality management focuses on businesses related to the hospitality sector. 

The sectors include but are not limited to Accommodation (Hotels and Resorts), Cruises, Aviation, Recreation, Timeshare etc.

Here, there are diverse career paths, and you will require a range of skills, especially workplace and technical skills.

The below video from one of the popular hospitality institutes will give you a better idea of what exactly is hospitality management. 

At times hospitality students feel that hospitality management is only about hotels and restaurants. However, there is a difference. One of our other posts explains the difference between hospitality management and hotel management. One is the subset of the other.

Here’s the video:

What are the Different Careers in Hospitality Management?

Since we have gained an understanding of hospitality management, let’s dive into the different career paths you can choose in this sector. Here are some examples:

1. Restaurant Manager: As a restaurant manager, your duties include coordinating with your staff, managing your customers, ensuring they have a pleasant experience, ordering essential supplies, overseeing food preparation, etc.
2. Executive Chef– Executive Chefs are the head of the food and beverage production department. They would normally have a culinary diploma and degree along with extensive experience in the field. The journey starts with training and Commis Chef and then moves through the ranks of DCDPs, CDPs, Sous Chef etc before becoming an Executive Chef.
3. Hotel Marketing Manager: Here, your role will focus on promoting your hotel through different digital media, performing research, maintaining a good relationship with your customers, etc.
4. Front Office Manager: You can work in different hospitality industries, from hotels to casinos. Here, some of your primary responsibilities will include accounting, record keeping, managing your staff, interacting with your customers, etc.
5. Property Operations Manager: Your duties will include conducting regular inspections of the property you manage, supervising your staff, etc.
6. Travel Agent: As a travel agent, your responsibilities include consulting customers, planning their itineraries, making essential bookings, etc.

There are numerous other hospitality careers available. We have a dedicated post for hospitality career options that is comprehensive and detailed. Please have a look at the same if you wish to explore the best hospitality jobs further. 

The below image from Essec Business School is a good example of how diverse hospitality careers can be. As you can see from the image, those who completed MSc in hospitality management diversified to a plethora of career options.

From the hotel industry to real estate and more, the options are in plenty. 

What are the Specializations You can do to Attain a Prospering Career in Hospitality Management?

Here are the different specializations that can help you with your career in the hospitality management sector:

1. A high school diploma
2. BSc or BA in Hospitality Management
3. Certification in Meeting Management
4. Certification as a Special Events Professional
5. Expertise in marketing or a degree in hotel management
6. Associate degree in hotel management or hospitality management
7. MBA in hospitality management
8. Master’s degree in Luxury Hotel Management

And the list goes on. 

If you want to explore the course options further, have a look at our Course section which lists hospitality courses from all across the globe. 

Most importantly, these specializations required will vary on the career path chosen. For instance, if you plan to become a tour guide, you will only need a high school diploma. On the other hand, if you want to be one of the top Hospitality consultants, you would need a Master’s degree course and at times even an MBA or PhD would help the cause.

What are the Skills Required for Excelling in the Hospitality Management Sector?

Some of the skills you will require to attain success in hospitality management include:

1. One of the essential skills you will need is communication skills. It is integral for you to maintain an amicable relationship with your customers, superiors, and staff. Having conflict-resolution skills and problem-solving abilities can also go a long way in your career in the hospitality management sector. Knowledge of an additional language can also be extremely beneficial as the industry is multicultural. 
2. To attain success in this sector, you will require technical skills, especially MS Office, familiarity with using accounting software, designing, and digital marketing if your focus is on hotel marketing. Also, think about hospitality industry-related technical skills like knowledge of Opera, Property Management Systems etc.
3. Other skills required for enhancing your career in the hospitality management sector include patience, positivity, critical thinking, team player, leadership skills, patience, flexibility, and other workplace skills.
4. Interpersonal skills and creative acumen are also crucial to success in the hospitality industry.

Conclusion

Here you go, some of the basics regarding hospitality management. 

If you are looking for a career in hospitality management, you are not alone. 1 in 11 people on the planet is supposed to be working in the hospitality sector. Yes, that huge is the industry.

If you want to explore this field further, just make a search with your query in the top search section. We have hundreds of articles about hospitality management, hospitality education, hospitality careers and more.