Choose a Career in “The Big Three”

No, no, no! This is not a reference to getting a job in the automotive industry but rather choosing an interesting and rewarding career in the travel, tourism, or hospitality industries. Travel and tourism remain the number one industry in the world when linking them together, although many people do travel for business purposes or other personal reasons besides vacation. However, vacations are the number one universal family activity that spans across every ethnic consideration. Everybody likes to have some down time. Everybody likes to relax. Despite all the clichés about hanging out with your immediate relatives, family vacations are the principal engine driving this industry.

Get an Education

You can specialize zeroing in on what knowledge and skills are needed to manage operations within the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. There is a variety of different levels of education that will prepare you for a career in the industry including associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degrees in hospitality management.

Get On Board

Travel is a huge industry in and of itself without being related to taking a vacation. This industry encompasses all modes of transportation from an Oriental rickshaw on the streets of Hong Kong to leasing a private jet for a worldwide tour. People need to get to their holiday vacations and will choose to go by a number of different methods that include airlines, cruise ship lines, railways, bus lines as well as renting or leasing automobiles, vans, SUVs and trucks. Many luxury modes of transportation are available for lease for short and long term scenarios such as yachts and other boats. There are quite a few different jobs within the travel industry that include flight attendants, tour booking agents, rental car agency managers, cruise directors, yacht brokers, and even private jet pilots and ship captains. People involved in this industry can pursue specialized training that is available through focused educational programs that may be offered through an employer – although a great deal of hiring consideration is given to people who already have committed to getting an education and have received at least a preliminary degree. That’s why it’s important if you’re going to consider a career in hospitality management to obtain that degree. Sure, you’ll be able to find quite a few entry-level positions within the travel industry, but if you’re looking for management opportunities you will need an education.

What About the Pig Roast?

Many people working in the tourism industry often work for travel agencies. Some of these positions include company “experts” who have familiarized themselves with different countries acquiring the knowledge about specific geography, history, customs, weather as well as anything else that tourists would need to know when traveling within that particular country. These people who concentrate on particular cultures usually are experts at everything pertaining to this culture including the language. Oftentimes, these experts conduct seminars or presentations about their company’s tour offerings to large groups and are capable of fielding and answering specific questions with authority. Some highly skilled and experienced individuals may work for large companies where employees do a great deal of travel and thus this professional will help coordinate visits to foreign countries. Some corporations hire professionals who familiarize company individual traveling to a specific country with what to expect as well as offering guidelines on how to act while on foreign soil. Other individuals work toward preparing company personnel and their families to make as smooth a transition as possible when relocating from one country to another.

Never Roll the Career Dice by Chance

Many individuals looking to choose a career in hospitality management have quite a few opportunities in this industry where they can be responsible for the operations of hotels, convention centers, casinos, spas, restaurants, golf clubs, ski resorts and much more. Not only can professionals with specialized education be in a position to manage facilities, but other skilled hospitality managers play such roles as event coordinators, fundraising managers, food and beverage directors for a variety of different events, or, perhaps, be a company director for guest relations. Today’s society is especially seeking to find specialized coordinators for events such as weddings, anniversary parties, corporate hallmarks such as retirement parties and more. Outings are also becoming quite popular for both family as well as business purposes which could include reunions as well as special corporate outings such as a hunting trips or possibly a ski trip taken by company employees. Destination vacationing that includes action/adventure themes also have the need for experienced coordinators who have the skills and education necessary to put together a successful packages that pleases clients and makes profits for employers.

Skills Required

Professionals in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries will need to possess a variety of different skills that include business, finance as well as customer service. Individuals will need to be people oriented and thus require some type of conflict management skill as well as possibly having taken sociology and psychology coursework preparing themselves for human interaction. Many of the positions in these industries are not your typical 9 to 5 office jobs. The pace is often quite quick and the job usually takes people to different settings where everything from organizational skills to the ability to handle any kind of emergency that creeps up in a calm, decisive manner would be the characteristics of a well sought-after employee.

Coursework Preparation

All the scenarios discussed above can be met by a professional who has earned a Hospitality Management Degree. Make sure when selecting a course of study that it includes hotel management, food and beverage management, conference and seminar management, tourism as well as human resource study. There are other more focused areas of study within these three industries that would include staff training and development, marketing and merchandising, purchasing, inventory control and various financial studies that would include accounting, bookkeeping and other fiscal operations.

It is highly recommended that when examining a school of offers hospitality management degree programs that you completely consult with admissions and counselors to make sure that the course study that you need is what is offered at this school.