Hospitality Manager - As a career option

Introduction

Home is where the heart is, but in case you feel the same comfort of home someplace outside, then it’s probably the magic of hospitality that’s at work. Hospitality Management, thus undertakes hotel management, tourism management, crew support for flights and cruises(hostesses and stewards), under its bracket.

The subject matter of hospitality comprises of the overall feel of a place, which includes staff interface, F&B (food and beverage), ambience, and service. Its ultimate aim is the happiness and satisfaction of the customer. In this strive, for finesse and premier guest reception we also include job profiles like auditors, chefs, waiters, maids, attendants, etc. All in all, hospitality makes for an out the box excellence in terms of leisure services.

As we know, the world works under the motto of “work hard, party harder”. The latter half of the phrase is where hospitality management steps in. In our hoard of success and progress, there comes a time when it’s time for leisure.

The work of hospitality is to ensure that our leisure is of the best possible quality with no compromise in the holistic standards of affairs. Hence that last great holiday you remember where your stay at a resort or hotel was fantastic was brought to you by the hospitality department.

Does Hospitality Management deal with a hotel’s business?

The curricula of hospitality management follow a similar core subject application to that of a business degree, but there’s a flavour of hospitality management that flows freely through it. So in a way, students of hospitality management are certainly aiming to manage hotels in the long run, but it is still quite different from a typical business management degree.

List of the core subjects under Hospitality Management

Accounting
Administration
Finance
Marketing
Human resource management
Public relations, etc.

Management under hospitality pertains to the numerous dealings that a hotel has to go through. In one way it’s not just about the degree that you earn but about the methodical passion for service which matters. In other words, regardless of how much you fancy the profession of a hospitality manager, it is more important to love the service that you are providing to the customer or client.

Eligibility criteria to become a Hospitality Manager

+2: Have to graduate in Humanities stream
Bachelor’s Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration
Master’s Degree: Masters of Business Administration

Interested student of hospitality could pursue a number of academic courses that will ultimately lead to hospitality management. As hospitality comes under the prescribed syllabus of management, students planning towards hospitality are often encouraged to join business schools.

There is also a provision for obtaining specified degrees of hospitality at specific, major institutes of India and abroad. Degrees conferred in this academic field include Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Applied Science, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration and lastly, Ph.D.

During the period of study, students of these specific courses are made to go through a syllabus that is tailor-made for the hospitality department. Here they are taught about the varying genres of hospitality, even though their specialization determines their professional line of hospitality management.

Students are subjected to not only the operations in the positions of hotels but also the involvements of hospitality in airlines, waterways (cruises and ships), railways (luxury trains), etc. This is done so that a student of hospitality management is well aware of the variants that he may come face to face in his professional career. After all, knowledge is wisdom but knowing is the key to it.

In India, the hospitality scene has burgeoned massively in the last two decades. It is hardly surprising how our nation is among the top ten most desirable holiday destinations in the world. In fact, this number is on a predicted rise until even the next decade. Therefore, hospitality management is among the list of most preferred professions in India.

List of the top institutes in India for Hospitality Management

Indian Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), Mumbai
Indian Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), Ahmedabad
Oberoi Institute of Learning (OIL), Mumbai
Indian Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), Chennai
Christ College (CC), Bangalore

List of the top institutes around the world for Hospitality Management

Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (CUSHA), New York
Deadpan School of Hospitality (DSH), Florida
Les Roches International School of Hotel Management (LRISHM), Randogne
Hotelschool The Hague (HTH), Hague

A Day in the life of a Hospitality Manager

Hi there, I’m a hospitality manager and I work at a 5-star hotel and resort in Goa. My work is to ensure that the stay of our guests at the hotel and resort is their best ever, in which more often than not I succeed.

To term, my job as difficult is only an understatement as I have to deal with hundreds of clients every day. From their food to their accommodation, everything has to be of unmistakable quality. There are of course problems that I face in delivering the promised service, in the hospitality business an unkept promise means a dissatisfied customer.

Here’s how a typical day in my life goes by:

5:30 AM: I wake up to the cranky beep of my alarm. I have 30 minutes to freshen up, eat and leave.

6:15 AM: On my way to work now. The guest from the middle east will check in at 7:30. I need to be present at the front desk and oversee their check-in myself. Meanwhile, I open up a Cadbury from last night for breakfast.

7:30 AM: Our friends from the Middle East have arrived. It’s time for a proper welcome.

9:00 AM: The chefs are on fire, preparing dishes especially to please the middle-eastern tastebuds. The field of hospitality often goes farther out than just ensuring what the guest would like, to a researched analysis of what the guest will like. We are doing just that at the moment.

11:00 AM: I’m at the office now, checking up the supplies sheet. In order to function without fail, we ensure that we are never out of our supplies. Besides, what’s the point of staying at a 5 star that doesn’t serve what you need, right?

1:00 PM: Seems like a busy day. It’s just 1 and resort is booming with guests. In the summer it’s an understandable state of affair but I wonder what it is on this December day. Good fortune, perhaps.

2:00 PM: The humdrum in the corridors is at peace for now. This is my only chance for any lunch today, and I shall seize it.

4:00 PM: The crew is now preparing the Crystal Hall (our premier banquet) for the evening party of an MNC. We understand the nature of guests we can expect and so we make arrangements accordingly. This is one of the key points that hospitality is all about. Details and observation.

7:00 PM: We just got over with the Crystal Hall party. The management is organizing a special ethnic Indian evening for our guests now. It’s a big shindig with all things Indian including food, beverage, cultural dance performances, various cuisines of India, etc.

My work here is to see that each course of the meal is timely followed by the other and that the liquor and beverage are served exactly as per our guest’s preference. This is ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ in action.

11:30 PM: This night seemingly doesn’t want to end. We’re in the last course of the dinner and our guests seem happy. I have an early off tonight so I’m gonna leave by the time the front desk manager takes over for the night. It’s been a long day.

12:30 AM: I’m driving home now. Tomorrow’s wake up time: 6:00 AM.

This is how a typical day in my life looks like. Do you want to become like me?

We hope this article has added something valuable to your research about this profession.

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