What To Expect When Considering a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management Degree Program

There is no denying that one of the most flourishing and biggest industries in the world is travel and tourism. Many countries benefit from this industry, either directly from arrivals of domestic and foreign tourists and indirectly, from manufacturing, exports, and foreign exchange. The United Nations pegged the travel and tourism industry earnings from arrivals alone in 2010 reaching to US$928 billion.

Meanwhile, records from the World Tourism Organization (WTO) show that foreign exchange earnings reached US$476 billion in year 2000. According to them, this is bigger than the export value of any single product or service recorded in the same period. High value products that usually reach this high are petroleum products, motor vehicles, and telecommunications equipment.

The bustling industry of travel and tourism is also seen to grow by 2020. The Australian government for example, in their recent goal-setting for tourism, projected that there will be a scaling of tourism demand in Asia. So the Australian government focuses its plan to enhance competitiveness in digital capability, regulation, transportation, resiliency, productivity and quality of service.

For those who are interested in this industry, it is good to eye a degree on Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management. Many colleges and universities offer this degree although the most popular and known schools for hospitality management can be found in Switzerland, Australia and the United States. Specifically at the Cornell University, Michigan State University, and Florida International University. Cornell University was ranked as number 1 by the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.

A Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management degree deals with the study of guest relations, people interaction, organization of restaurants, lodging facilities and entertainment venues and development of strategies for efficient and effective hosting.

The degree is almost synonymous with the degrees in Tourism Management and Hotel and Restaurant Management. However, Hospitality Management includes events and wide-range knowledge of travel and cultures, as well as communication skills.

Wide Range of Opportunities

Anyone with a Bachelors of Science in Hospitality Management can easily acquire job anywhere because of the diversified and wide range of players in the industry. One can pick a job from hotels, restaurants, convention centers, events and entertainment companies, travel agencies, resorts and leisure estates, health and wellness centers, and even in retirement centers.

If one has the people’s skills, enthusiasm, and managerial capability, then it should not be a problem for there are thousands of job opportunities in the market.

But the leading fields in the hospitality business are lodging, restaurants, travel and tourism events and entertainment. For lodging, hospitality managers usually supervise operations in hotels, resorts, villas, recreation, cruise lines, casinos and retirement centers. This responsibility includes concerns in quality control, food, personnel assignments and at times, in low-scale companies, even finance. Premier vacation rentals also hire hospitality employees to assist with the upkeep up renter residents.

As for the restaurants, it is the primary concern of hospitality managers to ensure the safety and quality standards imposed by the government. The manager works closely with the resident chef also for concerns in recipes and food, as well as sanitation and health.

Hospitality managers also keep track of statistics, information, data and evaluation of trends in travel and tourism. On the other hand, supervision of events in hotels and convention centers is also a task for hospitality managers even as they also take charge of sales and marketing of venues. They likewise coordinate with entertainment suppliers for their events and venues.

Employment Pay For Hospitality Managers

The average annual wage for lodging managers is estimated at US$54,570 as of year 2010. Day jobs for hospitality managers usually pay US$29,460 to US$87,920 per year. As for the companies in travel and tourism, it is reported that traveler accommodation and RV parks employ the biggest numbers of hospitality managers. Salaries for hospitality managers range from US$53,970 and $49,250, respectively.

The gambling industry pay the highest for lodging managers with a whooping US$76,750 per year while medical and surgical hospitals pay at $75,520 per year. According to the US Labor Department, there are about 29,920 lodging managers employed in the country as of May 2010.