This course provides an
opportunity for students to develop and expand their knowledge and
understanding of the management of hospitality organizations within an
international context to graduate level. The course focuses on
contemporary developments in the international hospitality industry,
concentrating on the analysis of the supply and demand.
The
twin concepts of 'Hotel' and 'Hospitality" have emerged
and evolved through a long process and have primarily been
an outgrowth of civilization and technological advance.
The origin of the practice of hotel and hospitality could,
indeed, be traced back to the origin of man's faculty of
walking. However, as a regular and professionally meaningful
phenomenon, it owes its origin to the onset of the transport
revolution. Further, while, in terms of quantity and quality,
hotel industry has been growing since the eighteenth century,
it was only well into the twentieth century, especially
after the Second World War, when mass tourism at the global
level began to flourish that hotel industry got a shot in
the arm. It is around this point in time that the need was
felt for the accommodation component of the growing tourism
industry. Today, hotels (accommodation and lodgings) constitute
the most important, the most visible, and probably the most
vital segment of the infrastructure facilities for travel
and tourism industry anywhere. It has been witnessed that
there exists a strong, positive two‑way, interactive correlation
between the tourist arrivals and the availability of accommodation.
Thus, the provisioning of proper accommodation of acceptable
standards would largely determine the level and pace of
growth of tourist traffic and vice versa.
More recently, there has been a
visible shift towards the economy‑class, medium‑budget hotels where
the guests should be able to get satisfactory and desirable standards of
comfort and hygiene within an affordable price range. Nowadays, hotels
exist to suit all wallets and tastes, ranging from a chic boutique
property to a city resort hotel, five‑star luxury hotels to simple
guest houses; and from Art Deco elegance to places or facilities to meet
the needs of families.
In the last decade, the international business travelers
and leisure travelers have rediscovered India. In addition to this
global traffic, domestic travelers are packing their bags in
ever‑increasing numbers. This spurt in the travel and tourism industry
has in turn given India's growing hotel industry great impetus.
Hotels, motels, restaurants and
clubs have witnessed phenomenal growth in the last two decades. Such
growth is the only expected to multiply manifold in the coming decades.
The reasons are numerous: globalization, liberalization of the Indian
economy, attitudinal shift towards holidaying, the entry of MNCs and a
renewed interest in all things Indian the world over are but a few.
The resultant growth in the
hospitality industry has created several thousand jobs for hotel
management professionals and those in related areas such as food
technology, personnel management and tourism administration”. It is
estimated that 2,00,000 qualified hotel management professionals are
required now to run the five star hotels across the country. This number
is an indication of the kind of demand for hotel management career
avenues in India.
This
career field offers tremendous opportunities for growth both in India
and abroad. It gives hotel management graduates the opportunity to work
not only in five star hotels but a host of other exciting avenues as
well. These include luxury liners, cruise liners, clubs and the armed
forces.
For
the aspiring hotel management professional, therefore, there is no
better time. This career stream offers challenging work environments in
some of the leading hotel chains in the world at attractive salaries and
with excellent perks. A certain amount of glamour is also attached to
jobs in this industry.
To be a successful hotel
professional, the following skills are essential:
vCommunications
skills
vEnglish
Language fluency and proficiency
vKnowledge
of foreign languages
vFriendly
disposition
The
best jobs are also often concentrated in the following areas:-
Metros,
Key business
centers, Places of
tourist attraction, Airports, Motel chains
(on national highways), Government
tourism departments in all parts of the country, Mobile jobs
(with luxury liners, and trains such as the 'Palace on Wheels') .
Graduates in hotel management may choose to
diversify into the travel and tourism industry Food Journalism and Food
Photography are emerging as interesting options. Education and training
are also options. Hotel management graduates are also well equipped to
be entrepreneurs. Running a catering business from home, setting up
restaurants and guest houses are some popular choices.
Event management is another area of work suitable for hotel
management graduates. Those specializing in catering technology are
suited to enter the food processing industry Nutrition and dietetics,
Health Foods, Food technology and quality control are challenging