What is the scope of a course in Hotel Management ?

Introduction

The hotel management and hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. It, however, faces a constant shortage of qualified manpower and hotel management specialists
to lead it. Currently, approximately one out of ten people around the world are employed in
the hospitality industry.
Countries like China have moved way ahead of India in several sectors including tourism and
hospitality. Even smaller countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are earning a lot
through this industry.
India has also realized the importance of the hospitality sector and the Central Government,
along with the State Governments, are now planning to revive the tourism, hotel and
hospitality industry. An immediate step towards helping this industry is to pay attention to the
scarcity of trained staff in this field.
One can notice several initiatives being taken in setting up educational institutions to train
students in the field of ‘Hotel Management, Hospitality, Catering Technology, Travel and
Tourism’. There seems to be no doubt that these students will see tremendous job
opportunities and have great growth potential.

Job Opportunities: Hotel/Hospitality Management Graduates

Global growth and development of tourism have provided several job opportunities for
graduates in the hospitality sector.
It is clearly a myth that Hotel Management is only for those who want to become chefs or
cooks. Hotel Management graduates can get jobs in the Service Sector and this stream has
today emerged as an academic stream that is creating specialists for several sections of the
Service Sector such as airlines, ships, cruises, banks, insurance companies, travel and
tourism agencies, etc
Further with India emerging as a popular tourist and business destination, one can foresee
huge job opportunities for these students in firms within the travel and tourism industry.
Today, Health and Fitness are also emerging as important sectors that promise great growth
potential. Hospitality graduates are in great demand by organisations in these sectors.

This academic stream also provides several Entrepreneurship opportunities. These
students can start catering agencies that serve corporate houses or institutions or even private
functions. The students can start their own confectionery, bakery houses, etc. These sectors
definitely provide lucrative business opportunities for students.
Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Gurgaon, etc. have seen a spurt in huge
Shopping Malls. The Hospitality graduates can very easily be absorbed in these service-
oriented organizations also.

Let’s look at some of the main job options:

• Customer relations executive in hotels and other Service Sectors.
• Kitchen management/housekeeping management trainee in hotels.
• Airlines catering and cabin services.
• Ships and cruises as customer relations officers or catering officers/chefs.
• Restaurants and fast food joints.
• Health and fitness centres.
• Travel and tourism companies
• Executives in tourism development corporations and resorts
• Clubs and Recreation centres
• Hospital administration and catering.
• Institutional and industrial catering for big corporate houses
• Manufactures and suppliers of hotel and restaurant equipment and services
• Teaching at hotel management and catering institutes
• Banks and Insurance Houses
• Government-owned catering departments, for example, railways, armed forces, ministerial conventions, etc.
• Food, confectionery, beverage production