Free Essay On Hospitality Management

For professionals with prospects to pursue hospitality management as a career, they will usually have job titles of hotel administrators, food service managers, meeting, convention and event planners, lodging managers, hotel managers and so forth. By heading entire hotels or specific departments or branches, they plan, coordinate and direct hotel service deliveries in the hospitality systems. Hospitality management covers restaurant, hotel, cruise ships, destination marketing organisations, amusement parks country clubs and destination centres. This paper examines various statistics and literatures to establish the current and the expected trends regarding hospitality management career and education.

Hospitality Management Career

In the US, as per 2012 census, all medical and health service managers held about 500,000 jobs (Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2015). In Canada it expected that after five years, 10% of the country’s total workforce will be made up of people from hospitality industry (Vancouver Premier College, 2015). Opportunities for career growth, travel and self-employment depend on where one is stationed. For instance for those managing meetings, conventions and events, there may have a lot of travelling opportunities. Some administrators can also be self-employed if they begin their own private hospitality businesses, so long as they have sound experience and business plans. Career growth normally involves junior managers advancing to higher positions with more responsibilities and salaries. Fresh graduates may begin as administrative assistants in departments, before moving up to management consultants or professors. In Canada, one can find the job from companies and businesses offering hospitality and tourism services like restaurant services, hiking, lodging, meeting, convention and event planning, casinos, health and wellness clubs, catering, entertainment and so forth. Therefore, apart from public health institutions like public universities, hospitals and armed forces, private organisations that include hospitality consulting firms like PKF Canada (Toronto), hotels like Hilton and Sheraton require hospitality managers (AGCAS editors, 2013).
According to analysts, job prospects for the career are expected to grow by30- 33% from the year 2012 to 2022 in both Canada and the US (Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2015; Vancouver Premier College, 2015). It is expected that because of globalisation and business internationalisation, people are going to demand valuable professional tourism and hospitality services. Therefore, touristic and hospitality events like hiking, games and planned meeting are projected to grow. Apparently, best job opportunities will be available to individuals with bachelors’ degrees in hospitality management. However, one should be aware that job opportunities in this industry fluctuate a lot with economic cycles. In Canada, their average salaries range from $52, 580 to $89,280. However, if one works in the evening and weekends, and holds more post secondary education and experience, it should be expected that he will receive more premiums (Vancouver Premier College, 2015).
Currently, the profession is experiencing some technical changes. Although individuals who hold MBAs have always been preferred, emphasis to have hotel and restaurant professional leaders is growing. Therefore, on technical grounds, the hospitality industry now prefers individuals with both technical knowledge and experience in both restaurant and hotel services and management. In Canada, although there are junior hospital managers with high schools diplomas, it is preferred that one has a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management for professionalism. However, long term experiences and Master’s Degrees in Business Administration and Public Administration can also be considered. Apart from technical skills in hotel and restaurant management one should have skills in problem solving, communication and analytical procedures (AGCAS editors, 2013).
As already stated, for one to have his resume attractive, he will have to include qualifications as regards education and experiences in both hotel and management areas. Therefore, it is evident that his major or postgraduate program should be relevant to the profession. He should also include additional strengths in ICT, leadership, public relations, environmental service, communication skills, excellent solving and so forth. If one has already worked, he can add accomplishments in his previous areas of work (AGCAS editors, 2013).

Education

In Canada, one can undertake the course at institutions like University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, McGill School of Continuing Studies, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, and University of Manitoba among others. Although there are many institutions in Canada offering such courses, one should look at their differences and similarities to come up with the best choice. One should seek expert opinions regarding what hospitality service providers really require in terms of management. This should be in line with the currently changing demographics. The next step will be choosing the right program before making any commitment of money and time. One will have to determine the programs that are accredited and those that are not by authorities. Since some universities offer programs in managing organisations in certain locations, one will have to choose the one that is best for him. As other courses, tuition and fees for the program in both winter and fall are slightly more than $5,000 in many Canadian colleges. If one is not able to finance his own fees, he can opt for scholarships, financial aids and loans. For scholarships, students can obtain them from ScholarshipCanada.com, SFU Graduate Awards for Canadians among others. However, for one to be successful with them he must be sure that he qualifies, gather relevant information, make good impression and recheck his information before applying. One can also benefit from bursaries, awards and assistances (Vancouver Premier College, 2015).
During admission, normally, one is required to have high school diploma or its equivalent with a GPA of 3.0, academic transcripts, non refundable fees and SAT or ACT scores for international students. Most masters and doctor of philosophy courses take minimum lengths of 2 and 4 years respectively. By this time, depending on one’s program, he would have completed core courses, specialisation courses, and elective courses. At bachelor’s level, one will take 24 courses in the major in about four years. This would lead him to advance to hospitality management courses such as MBA, Masters of Public Administration, Masters of Hospitality Administration and so forth. After completing this course, one would have effectively got practical opportunities to develop leadership skills in all areas of hospitality service. For instance he would exhibit effective and efficient communication strategies, financial and managerial concepts, supervision skills, hospitality and tourism economics and so forth. After one has completed his final semester or term he can apply for final certification. However, he should confirm his eligibility, as far as completion of academic requirements is concerned. The completion should be accredited by both school authority and nationally or professionally recognised accrediting institutions for him to be accepted by employers as qualified (Vancouver Premier College, 2015).
Notably, although job prospects seem bright for the aspiring hospitality managers, technical and service requirement for the career is changing. Apart from having knowledge and skills in management, hospitality and tourism organisations are now pressurised to employ managers with additional restaurant and hotel backgrounds. Therefore, for a successful hospitality profession, it will be important that one has both aspects. Importantly, strong competitions for the jobs should be expected, especially during recession. It implies that aspiring professionals should work hard to attain relevant experiences and education to get an edge over others.

References

AGCAS editors. (2013).What can I do with my degree?: Hospitality management.
Prospects. Retrieved on 16 February 2015 from http://www.prospects.ac.uk/options_hospitality.htm
Bureau of Labour Statistics (US). (2015). Leisure and Hospitality.
Washington: United States Department of Labour. Retrieved on 16 February 2015 from
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm#tab-1
Vancouver Premier College. (2015).Hospitality career facts &
figures. Retrieved on 16 February 2015 from http://www.vpcollege.com/hospitality-career-facts-figures/