HOSPITALITY
WHAT IS HOSPITALITY?
Hospitality is a major that addresses the question: How do you run a guest-oriented business smoothly, profitably, and provide premier customer service?
Many schools call the hospitality major, hotel management, but the degree generally encompasses the broad spectrum of hospitality services including hotels and motels, conferencing, restaurant management, special events, and even tourism. In your hospitality major you will learn the ins and outs of running a hospitality enterprise, covering all major aspects such as finance, security, accounting, marketing, food service operations, world cultures, industry trends, and housekeeping.
WHAT COURSES DO YOU NEED TO TAKE?
Depending on what college or university you choose, your hospitality major will take different forms. Some colleges and universities provide a strong general business background as well as offering a concentration in hospitality-related subjects. Other programs focus more intensely on hospitality subjects and subspecialties like restaurant management, meeting administration, hotel management, and travel.
As a hospitality major, you will want to do an internship or find a job in the hospitality arena while in school. This will give you experience you can show on your resume as well as give you a leg up on your career. In the classroom, here are some classes you are likely to encounter:
- Accounting
- Catering
- Data Processing
- Economics
- Food Service management
- Hotel Administration
- Hotel Maintenance Engineering
- Housekeeping
- Management
- Tourism
Hospitality majors often participate in study abroad programs to gain perspective on how different countries handle their hospitality oerations.
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A DEGREE IN HOSPITALITY?
The hospitality industry is an incredibly vibrant—and glamorous—sector of the global marketplace, offering job opportunities in resorts, restaurants, hotels, conference centers, corporations, and government. Graduates, who leave college with hospitality degrees, are equipped with a flexible skill set they can use in many kinds of settings, including administrative positions at restaurants and hotels, as special events planners, sales people, marketing professionals, food service managers, security directors, controllers, personnel managers, travel agents, and resort managers.