Study and Career in Hospitality
Intoduction
The hospitality and tourism industry is predicted to triple in size within the next fifteen years and to be the world’s largest industry by the year 2020. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, travellers will spend US$ 5 billion every day! There will be a great demand for well-qualified staff with exciting and rewarding career opportunities waiting in almost every country around the world.
This will generate enormous opportunities for well-qualified staff. Individuals with credentials from one of the elite Swiss schools will be in high demand to assume exciting and rewarding positions anywhere in the world.
Switzerland has a long established and outstanding reputation for excellence in Hospitality Education. Many of the world’s successful hoteliers have been educated in this beautiful and safe country.
Always rewarding, yet always stressful, a career in hospitality management is one that requires lots of natural managerial talent, and also yields some of the greatest pleasures. If you're a problem-solver with a knack for working with people, you'll succeed. In fact, you'll probably revel in the challenges.
The field of hospitality management covers a wide range of issues, and the broadness career is what oftentimes makes it so interesting. Conventions and large groups of tourists visiting your establishment can present unusual, unforeseen problems, and it takes a strong leader to handle situations that are unplanned for. A successful career in hospitality management requires that you be adaptable to ever-evolving circumstances, and have the vision to see past obstacles to create solutions. Successful hospitality managers are those people who are calm during crisis, level-headed communicators, and those people to whom others look when they need answers to questions or alternative ideas. To some people, these hurdles would be a deterrent, but to others, the pride and satisfaction of juggling as many challenges are there are rooms is exciting.
Hospitality management is more than just customer satisfaction -- it's about business smarts too. It's up to the manager of a particular restaurant or hotel or venue to establish the standards for service to guests, decor, housekeeping, food quality, and operations. You need to have a keen eye for what it is that will make your establishment stand out, and very oftentimes that is reflective of your own unique managerial personality.
A lot of Schools, Colleges and Universities all over the world: in Switzerland, Greece, USA, Liechtenstein,
Ireland, United Kingdom etc. propose the possibility to pursue a successful career in the hospitality business, the business of the future.
Structure and Philosophy of the Programme
The hospitality industry, which includes the four principal sectors of lodging, transportation, food and beverage and recreation, is the fastest-growing industry in the world today. Whenever you travel, dine out, or spend an evening away from home, you are enjoying "hospitality".
By offering varied as well as interesting programmes of study, educational establishments can prepare you for a career in any or all sectors of the hospitality industry. The unique approach to education and training in this field ensures that your own needs will be met - whether you are seeking a specialized position or one that will allow greater job mobility.
One of the big advantages of studying hospitality and tourism management is the transferable skills gained through such an education. Simply put, transferable skills are those that can be applied to, and are in demand by, businesses not necessarily under the umbrella of hospitality and tourism services. In general, they are technical skills such as communications technology, people skills, sales and marketing skills, finance and accountancy skills, and the very latest in top management practices and theories. Some of graduates can be found working successfully in non-hospitality/tourism occupations belonging to the service management industries also known as the experience economy, including telecommunications, training and education, banking, consultancy, human resource consultancy, sales and marketing, finance, and television and broadcasting to name a few.
Most academic programs are designed in such a way as to provide students with the most recent theoretical knowledge in their field while, at the same time, providing extensive practical training within first-class hospitality establishments.
Thus, theoretical subjects are taught in the classroom by a highly qualified faculty employing modern learning
methods, while practical training is delivered within the facilities of participating, first-class establishments. The
result is an ideal blending of theory and practice. There, students are exposed to a wide variety of educational and
training techniques, both in and outside the classroom. Among the methods and techniques used are:
• Lectures
• Group Exercises & Projects
• Case Studies
• Presentations
• Research Projects
The 3-year International Hospitality and Tourism Management programme at one of chosen Universities covers all the major theoretical and practical components of a hotel operation. It also enables the student to acquire the business skills necessary to manage a hotel operation profitably, while at the same time adhering to world-class standards. The 3-year programme leads to the award of a Diploma at the end of the second year, and an undergraduate degree, the BA(Hons) International Hospitality and Tourism Management at the end of the third year. Two industry placements of 20 weeks each in the first two years of study (semesters 2 and 4) are integral to the programme. This degree programme equips graduates with intellectual and leadership capabilities, which will allow them to move into a range of international managerial positions in prestigious organisations in their chosen sector of the Hospitality or Tourism Industry.
Forth year is a more vocationally focused route to the BA(Hons) degree is also available and allows students to complete the same International Hospitality and Tourism Management programme in four years, allowing for more applied hotel operations and applied hotel management theory and practice. At the end of the fourth year of the vocational programme, students receive the Higher Diploma in Hotel and Business Management together with the BA(Hons) International Hospitality and Tourism Management course.
Paid Interrnship and Placement
In addition to such educational and training techniques, students become familiar with their selected specialization through paid internship experience. The programmes incorporate paid industry placements (usually throughout Year 1 and Year 2) which give the students the opportunity to commence their networking while practicing what they learn. Training may take place in the country of studying or abroad.
During the internship students have the opportunity to combine the theoretical knowledge with the practical application of what to learn in the hotel. Students who are recruited will be counseled by educational establishment to ensure that they get a productive work experience. You can meet students working in the following world famous five star independent hotels: The Ritz, The Dorchester, One Aldwych, Claridges, and The Berkley and major chain hotels such as Hilton, Mandarin Oriental, Marriott, Four Seasons, Nikko and Jumeirah. It is also possible to arrange working in a resort hotel ( for example Egypt’s top resort hotel The Savoy in Sharm el Sheikh and Scotland’s Old Course Hotel in St.Andrews, the home of golf). You will be assisted with your internship job search and often hotels will recruit students who are already working for them on a part-time basis during their first year studies. Once you have started your internship you will be visited on your workplace every twelve weeks to confirm your progress and meet with your hotel mentor to discuss how you are getting on. The internship year is a salaried full-time position and often students who complete this year are offered permanent positions with the organizations either in their home countries or with work permit abroad. Internship is an excellent way to start your career in some of the best hospitality organizations in the world. Usually students work in intern positions such as reception, reservations, business centre, concierge, executive lounge, restaurant and bar service, housekeeping and night audit. Those with previous hotel experience often get promoted to a supervisor or management positions very quickly.
Employment placement rate after graduation is 96%. The high figure is a reflection of student’s competitive advantage, but also of the dynamic efforts of Career and Placement Office. This Office helps students to launch their careers in many ways. First by organizing annual Career Days to assist students in finding their industry placements. Second, students learn to write resumes, be interviewed effectively, and develop communication skills. Upon graduation, the support from Career and Placement Office continues find the right career opportunity.
IAS «Unvers» offers Hotel and Tourism Management Programs in the following countries:
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