We all know that the hospitality industry abroad is huge, and a degree in this subject earned from a reputed university abroad will be recognised by many service establishments in India, UK, US, Australia and Canada.

 A programme in hotel management usually prepares you for a managerial role or operational role in the food service industry which includes hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, country clubs and amusement parks. Many programmes also offer degrees in travel and tourism, two fields of study that are more widely taught in Europe and South America. In the US, the terms usually refer to actual business such as airlines, cruise lines, as well as those companies that offer ours.

What the program teaches you

Hospitality and Tourism Management curricula follow similar core subject applications to that of a business degree, but with a focus on hospitality management. Core subject areas include accounting, administration, finance, information systems, marketing, human resource management, public relations, strategy, quantitative methods and sectoral studies in the various areas of hospitality business.

In addition to the core coursework above, degree-specific coursework normally includes:

• Restaurant Management (Examples: Management of Food and Beverage Operations, Food Science, Food Selection and Preparation, Food and   Beverage Cost Control)

• Lodging Operations (Examples: Lodging Management, Hotel Operations, Resort Timeshare Management, Reservation Sales and Marketing, Hospitality Physical Plant)

• Global Tourism (Examples: Tourism Management, Airline Industry, Sustainable Tourism, Hospitality and Research Methods)

• Attractions Management (Examples: Theme Park Management, Entertainment Arts)

• Event Management (Examples: Event Industry, Catering Management, Hospitality Marketing Management)

• Food Preparation (Examples: Basic Food Preparation, Food Sanitation, Beer and Wine Labs)

Most institutes abroad give you the opportunity to put the theories learned in class into immediate use on a daily basis. The theory plus practice approach in teaching requires you to spend half of your time in class and he other half in practical training. You get to experience the hotel from three perspectives: you study as a student, wrk as an employee, and live as a hotel guest.

Career opportunities

Hospitality Management has a wide range of career option available for all the students such as Hotels, Airline Industry, Retail Sector, Teaching and Entrepreneur.

Several large hospitality corporations such as Marriott, Hilton Worldwide, The Walt Disney Company, IHG, Hyatt, Sasi park, Wyndham, and various management companies offer internship programs as well as management training programs and direct placements for students majoring in Hospitality and Tourism Management. Similar to other business fields, management training programs and direct placement opportunities are highly competitive.
 

Where to study

Some leading institutes abroad which offer good courses in hotel management are:

• William Angliss Institute in Melbourne, Australia
•  Le Cordon Bleu, Paris
• Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality and Management, Singapore
• Shatec Institutes, Singapore
• Fairleigh Dickinson University, US
•  Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, Switzerland
• University of Massachusetts Amherst, US
• Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences - Helsinki, Finland
• Hotelschool The Hague – The Hague, Netherlands
• Niagara University - Niagara Falls, US
• The Pacific International Hotel Management School, New Zealand

Image courtesy: Maggie Smith