Hospitality Management: Definition, Types, Careers, & More

The goals and functions of hospitality management differ from one business to the next, though the basic goal remains the same: to provide the best service and experience to customers. Because of its widespread presence, hospitality management is one of the few career paths that pave the way to global exposure. This program also allows you to work for international hotels and resorts. In this article, you will learn about careers in hospitality management.

What Is Hospitality Management?

Hospitality management is a broad field that entails supervising the day-to-day administrative, operational, and commercial activities of hospitality businesses. Unlike the more narrowly focused “hotel management,” hospitality management is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of industries. It also includes food and beverage, travel and accommodation, and event management. A hospitality manager’s responsibilities can include everything from upkeep and housekeeping to spa services, concierge, and reception, among other things.

Responsibilities of Hospitality Managers These mainly include the following:

Accounting and budgeting
Interviewing, training, and managing staff
Assisting with daily operations
Optimizing business performance
Fielding customer complaints and queries
Ensuring health and safety compliance

Types of Hospitality Management

There are several types of hospitality management to be aware of, with three of the most important types explained in greater detail below:

#1. Restaurant Management

Restaurant management is a subfield of hospitality management that describes the management of firms in the restaurant industry or the management of restaurants within a larger business. This also includes day-to-day operations, employees, finances, business strategies, stock, and other duties.

#2. Hotel Management

Hotel management is a subset of hospitality management that focuses on the day-to-day operations of a hotel, motel, hostel, bed, and breakfast, or other types of guest accommodation. In practice, this entails supervising core operations, supervising needy departments, managing employees and finances, as well as developing strategies.

#3. Revenue Management

Revenue management is a branch of hospitality management that focuses on improving financial results, particularly revenue generation. This entails using available data to make intelligent demand projections so that the right product is sold to the right customer at the right time and at the right price.

Responsibilities of a Hospitality Manager

The different departments of your resort or hotel that you are responsible for managing include housekeeping, concierge, dining, spa, budgets, conferences, reception, upkeep, and guest services. You are in charge of making sure everything operates well across all departments. Despite the fact that your obligations will vary based on the industry, some of your main duties can be:

You must monitor accounts and manage budgets.
Managing employees and arranging cover for vacations and absences
Help the staff with the day-to-day operation of events and functions.
Create new and innovative ideas for improving business performance.
Handling customer complaints and inquiries
Interview and train new employees; ensure that health and safety regulations are in order

Differences Between Hospitality Management and Hotel Management

The scope difference is the most crucial one. Everything related to housing, entertainment, and shopping are included in hospitality management. Hotel management, however, is typically limited to hotels as the name suggests. This is not to imply that the sector doesn’t still provide a variety of hotel property kinds, brand styles, and prospects.

Hospitality Management Careers

The courses that undergraduate students in the hospitality management program study encompass a wide range of industries. Each course introduces students to different facets of the profession that will be helpful in their future employment in hospitality management, from Food, Wine, and Beverage Pairing to Convention Sales and Management.

Below are the careers in hospitality management

#1. Hospitality Management Careers in Guest Relations

Guest relations is a customer-service-oriented industry for those who enjoy interacting and working with others. These jobs can be found in a variety of industries, but they are generally found in hotel management.

Front Office Manager: Daily responsibilities for front office managers include directing staff, keeping track of guests’ accounts, arranging hotel sales, and more.
Directors of Housekeeping: Directors of housekeeping are often found at hotels and are in charge of, among other things, ensuring that the hotel is tidy and presentable, managing labor expenditures, and maintaining supplies.
Sommelier: Sommeliers are fine wine experts who work in high-end hotels or restaurants. They might also be able to suggest wine and food pairings, assist chefs in creating up-to-date wine lists for their establishment, or promote wine-related events.

#2. Hospitality Careers in Tourism Management

One aspect of tourism management that offers diverse options for recent graduates in hospitality management. Jobs like cruise ship director and flight attendant can take you all over the world, but if you prefer a hospitality career with a constant home base, here are three options:

Travel agent: A travel agent will conduct research and plan trips for individuals, couples, and groups. This process can include looking for hotels, booking excursions, and sharing flight deals.
Tour Guide: Tour guides plan itineraries and provide private or public tours of popular towns, museums, historical sites, and other points of interest. Additionally, tour guides often have a broad knowledge of individual locations and can answer questions specific to their tour.
Public Relations and Marketing: Based on the needs of the industry, a career in marketing and public relations can be linked to both hospitality and tourism. Marketing and public relations are important to a destination because a positive press name can influence the number of people who visit a touristy town, hotel, or other sightseeing area.

#3. Hospitality Careers in Event Planning

Another important aspect of hospitality is event planning, which requires hands-on organization and interaction. Flexibility, working within a budget, and a proclivity for multitasking are traits of successful professionals with jobs in event planning.

In-House Event Planner: Event planners can be involved in all aspects of an event such as booking clients, holding regular meetings, problem-solving event details, and organizing post-event clean-up.
Conference Organizer: These organizers can be hired in-house by a venue to arrange seating, keynote speaker requirements, day-of itineraries, and other details for a conference, trade show, expo, or other events.
Bridal Consultant: Bridal consultants, also known as wedding planners, can be hired to oversee various aspects of a wedding and reception, such as helping with venue selection and creating seating charts. These consultants can have flexible work schedules.

#4. Hospitality Management Careers in the Food and Beverage Industry

The food and beverage sector is divided into two major parts: the production and distribution of edible goods. Food and beverage occupations are related to hospitality and can be found in settings such as restaurants, breweries, event centers, and more.

Restaurant Manager: Restaurant managers can be hired to oversee a variety of restaurant types. This ranges from local taverns to high-end restaurants and fine-dining establishments specializing in international cuisine.
Catering Assistant: A catering assistant can work directly for a catering company, in-house at a restaurant, or at a hotel, arranging bookings, supervising production, and other duties.
Sous Chef: A sous chef is a second-in-command role in a kitchen and is another job in the food and beverage industry. A sous chef works under the supervision of the head chef and manages various meal preparations and kitchen operations.

#5. Hospitality Management Careers in the Entertainment and Leisure Industries

The entertainment and leisure industries can be linked to some of those already mentioned. In tourist destinations such as Las Vegas or New York City, for example, it is common for sources of entertainment to increase. Some jobs that can be available in both sectors include:

Casino Host: Casino hosts assist casinos in ensuring customer joy. Some of these hosts’ daily duties can include getting to know regular customers and providing various incentives to ensure that their casino experience is positive and that they return.
Spa Director: Spas can help guests all over the world enjoy leisure and relaxation. Spa directors can be in charge of scheduling and appointments, inventory management, as well as other duties.
Theme Park Manager: Because theme parks include more than just rides and roller coasters, managers are required to keep them running. These employees can book shows, plan promotional events, and do a variety of other tasks.

Skills in Hospitality Management

People skills including communication, time management, patience, teamwork, being able to perform multiple tasks at once, paying attention to detail, problem-solving, and flexibility are needed in the hospitality sector. Likewise, a position in the sector requires technical abilities in areas like social networking, accounting software, design, and math.

An event planning manager will need to understand design and social media, but a front office manager will need to be strong with finances and knowledgeable about accounting software.

Is Hospitality Management a Good Career?

The ability to work anywhere in the globe is one of the benefits of professions in hospitality. You can change industries and pursue new opportunities thanks to the many transferrable skills in hospitality management.

What Is the Best Job for Hospitality Management?

7 highest-paying hospitality jobs

Restaurant manager.
Event manager.
Hotel general manager.
Sommelier.
Food service director.
Travel manager.
Executive chef.

Hospitality Management Degree

While secondary education is good for some hospitality jobs, a hospitality management degree is the best way to advance into the higher pay bracket of hospitality management. A Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management will provide you with the following abilities:

Analysis, critical thinking, and problem-solving
Communication
Teamwork
Leadership and delegation
IT and hospitality management tools
Networking

The Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from EHL is the perfect stepping stone to a Graduate Management Program or Master’s degree. It also combines industry immersion with management theory and applied business projects to give you all the input you need to become a well-rounded professional.

Is Hospitality Hard to Study?

Yes, though it’s not impossible

How Long is Hospitality Management Course?

The planning, development, as well as human resource management of the various parts of hotel, restaurant, and resort operations, are all covered in the four-year Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management (BS HM) degree program. Additionally, the curriculum aims to impart entrepreneurial skills.

FAQs on Hospitality Management

Which is better tourism or hospitality?

While the two fields and industries overlap, the main distinction is that tourism focuses on giving people wonderful accommodation, and travel, as well as other facilities such as restaurants or sports centers, while hospitality focuses on providing people with great travel and other facilities like sports facilities.

Which is better hotel management or hospitality management?

While hospitality is a more general and wide phrase than hotel management, which deals directly with all hotel operations. All the industries that demand services, such as food and beverage, lodging, and event management, are strongly allied with hospitality and tourism management.

Does hospitality include cooking?

A hospitality degree should equip you to work in a food service department since most hotels offer some sort of food service, but you generally won’t be certified to be a cook. Instead, anticipate being in control of administrative or kitchen-related duties rather than food preparation.