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Hotel industry: Unlimited career opportunities
Every year about 3.5 million tourists visit India and the government has an ambitious target of increasing this number to five million. In addition, each year another 35 million Indians travel within the country and this number is also on the rise. Hence, in order to cater to the needs of this growing number of travelers, the demand for trained manpower in the hotel industry has multiplied manifold.
What can you do?
Large hotels and large hotel chains divide managerial responsibilities into many separate departments, and each department may have sub-departments and sub-managers. For example, the food and beverage department of a large hotel may have a head director who oversees all the sub-directors, including a catering director who manages the entire food and beverage staff and the flow of materials required to keep the restaurants, room service, and banqueting services running. The sales and marketing department usually has a senior manager who oversees other sales mangers, such as managers of group sales, corporate sales, and business travel sales.
A wide variety of people work in these departments. Some are highly-paid and educated professionals, like engineers or executive chefs, and others are first-time jobholders who wash dishes or clean rooms, and many others are in between.
Front desk and guest services help set the image for a hotel. Although most front desk and guest services positions are entry-level, they are key to giving guests their first impression of the hotel. This department includes front desk agents, reservation agents, concierges, bellhops, valet parking attendants, and all the managers of these people.
Human resources is the department that helps hire, fire, and train employees, mediates employee-employer disputes, and manages employee benefits. In large hotels or chains, human resources employ many people, while in some small hotels the manager does the job of human resources.
Accounting and finance employs all levels of financial professionals, from entry-level financial assistants to certified accountants to chief financial officers.
Marketing and sales is in charge of promoting the hotels' services. In large resorts, separate managers oversee the sales of spa services, convention services, and wedding services.
Housekeeping is in charge of cleaning the rooms and inside public spaces of hotels. In general, housekeeping is physically demanding and low-paying work.
Food and beverage/kitchens and restaurant is a huge department with employees from all types of backgrounds. The entry-level positions include busboy, banquet server, waiter, waitress, dishwasher, and room service attendant, but this department also hires trained workers like bartenders, chefs, and wine stewards. Kitchens and restaurants also need managers and directors to oversee staff and keep track of the food and beverages for restaurant meals, room service, conventions, and events catered by the restaurant but held outside the hotel.
Skill set
Mind it, interest alone will not suffice to make it big in this sector. There are other qualities necessary for success among which are an interest in management, enjoyment in working with people, and the drive to meet the challenges of this dynamic industry. The hospitality sector is not for those seeking a nine to five, Monday to Friday work pattern. However, it may be appropriate for those who want to work in a customer-focused business environment where there are a wide range of specialist opportunities.
Training and Qualification
Degrees in a hospitality-related discipline are preferred but many employers accept candidates from other disciplines so long as they have experience in a hospitality environment. Most hospitality degrees develop experience through industrial placements and many students can gain relevant experience through part-time and vacation work. While not essential, language skills can be a bonus when applying.
Of course, degree classification is important but it is the work experience and understanding of the sector alongside key skills that employers seek most. It is unlikely that high emphasis is given to A-level grades when recruiting.
However, as the hospitality industry takes on an increasingly international focus, it is necessary for students to develop the requisite skills to grab the opportunities available around the world. Here are some top colleges and institutes of the country that can prepare you for a career in the hotel industry.
- Amity School of Hospitality
- Welcome Group Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal
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Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development, New Delhi
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All the twenty four Institutes of Hotel Management located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi (Pusa), Delhi (Lajpatnagar), Gangtok, Goa, Gwalior, Gurdaspur, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Srinagar, Shimla, Shillong and Thiruvananthapuram affiliated to the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology
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Eco-tourism: The future of tourism
Eco-tourism is a fairly new approach in tourism. Eco-tourism is travel to natural areas to appreciate the cultural and natural history of the environment, taking care not to disturb the integrity of the eco-system, while creating economic opportunities. This makes the conservation and protection of natural resources advantageous to the local people.
The increasing knowledge of the fragility of the environment, better informed managers, and the recognition that there is a close relationship between good ecology and good economy has made eco-tourism the buzzword of the 21 st century.
In essence, eco-tourism means making as ineffectual environmental jolt as possible and helping in the conservation of wildlife and habitats when sojourning a site. This is an ideal form of tourism that encourages going back to natural wealth in every aspect of life.
This means that those who implement and participate in eco-tourism activities should focus on:
- Giving visitors the opportunity to personally and directly experience nature.
- Providing opportunities to visitors to experience nature in ways that lead to greater understanding, appreciation and enjoyment.
- Representing best practices for environmentally sustainable tourism.
- Contributing directly to the conservation of natural areas.
- Providing contributions to the local community for ongoing activities.
- Becoming sensitive to interpret and involve the culture/s existing in the area.
- Consistently meeting consumer expectations.
Eco-tourism in India
In India this movement is gathering momentum with more and more travel and tourism related organisations addressing the needs of the eco-tourists and promoting eco-tourism in the country. And why not! After all India is a country that offers full scope for eco-tourism. One can get enchanted by the rich diversity of the flora and fauna of India and, at the same time, feast on the fruits and vegetables that have been grown in the organic farms without the use of any chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
Eco-tourism sights in India
India is a land of varied geography. It offers several tourist destinations that not just de-stress you but also rejuvenate you. There are several ways to enjoy Mother Nature in its most pristine form. The few places like the Himalayan Region, Kerala, the Northeast India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Lakshwadeep islands are some of the places where you can enjoy the treasured wealth of the Mother Nature. Thenmala in Kerala is the first planned eco-tourism destination in India created to cater to the eco-tourists and nature lovers.
Indian topography possesses an abundant variety of flora and fauna. India has numerous rare and endangered species in its surroundings. The declaration of several wildlife areas and national parks has encouraged the growth of the wildlife resource, which had reduced dramatically in the past. Today, India has many wildlife sanctuaries and protection laws. Currently, there are about 80 national parks and 441 sanctuaries in India, which work for the protection and conservation of wildlife resource in India.
There are numerous botanical and zoological gardens in India, which are working towards the enhancement of the eco-system. Poaching has stopped to a large extent. There are severe punishments in place for poachers, hunters and illegal traders of animals and trees. Tree plantation is taking place in several places. There are several animal and plant rights organisation that fight for the rights of the animals and plants. Numerous organisations and NGOs are coming forward to provide environmental education to the common people at the grass root level.
Scope of eco-tourism
The need to consider environmental and cultural issues in the travel and tourism industry and not simply its economic returns is growing by the day. There is a growing recognition that those who profit from tourism are not always those who have to bear its costs. Governments, industry and academia are undertaking research and implementing actions to minimise the impacts of the ever-increasing travel industry on the natural, human and built environment and to develop sustainable tourism practices. Hence, eco-tourism is now a sector with a huge scope.
Academic degree/Training
Eco-tourism is clearly a niche or specialist area of the wider tourism market. Hence, a separate degree in eco-tourism is far and between but, at the same time, it must be said that it is now an indispensable sub-topic of tourism studies. Therefore, those with a keen interest on taking up a degree in eco-tourism have to do with a degree in tourism studies, which are available in plenty.
For Comments: psjamwal@amity.edu
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Hotel Management: Demand for Quality Manpower
The hotel industry is losing good professionals to other segments in the business process outsourcing (BPO), ICE and other service segments. Shrinking manpower is a real problem for this industry. Shortages are being felt across all levels of staff and management and across all departments. For HR professionals in this industry the biggest challenge is to source the requisite talent and to retain it.
This should be good news for the students with a desire and passion to join the Hotel Management Sector. Whenever an Industry goes into such a phase there is a lot of pressure to recruit and retain talented personnel by giving a fast track of growth. Salaries too shoot up for the best. The employers also make their best efforts to improve the quality of work environment. The pressure of retaining people in today’s competitive environment is already being significantly felt. And it’s changing the management structure as well as the working environment. Managers are paying more attention to employee motivation.
This sector is driven by an ambitious target of the government of India – to attract five million tourists per year. To attract five million tourists, we need approximately 1, 20,000 hotel rooms. Right now, we have only 60,000. Another 49,000 rooms are under construction. Estimates suggest that 1, 50,000 new jobs in the hotel industry will be created.
JOBS: Job opportunities are varied – front office executives, housekeepers, guest relations executives, chefs, restaurant managers in hotels, customer service executives, tour managers, ticketing and reservation executives in tourism agencies.
REQUIREMENTS: Most hotels employ people with qualifications in hotel management. People with certificate course start at low levels, while those with a diploma or degree start as executive or management trainees. Many hotels also take HSC pass-outs as apprentices and promote them to various positions. Tourism sector employs people with a Certificate in Ticketing and Reservation, Diploma in Tourism, Bachelor’s degree in Tourism , MBA and MTA (Master of Tourism Administration).
PAY: Management trainees and executives earn Rs.7, 000-15,000 in 5-star hotels per month. Lower level positions get you Rs.2, 000-5,000. On confirmation, managerial and executive positions fetch salaries in the range of Rs.20, 000-50,000. In the tourism sector, customer service executives and tour managers get Rs.10, 000-20,000 per month and management trainees get Rs.7, 000-15,000 initially.
Besides Hotels a Hotel Management Graduate can also work for Airline Catering and Cabin Services, Clubs, Cruise Ship Hotels, Tourism Associations, Forest Lodges and Guest Houses. He can also go in for Institutional Management (supervising canteens in college, schools, in factories, company guest houses etc.) or Self employment.
One can enter this field by direct entry or through Hotel Management institutes. For direct entry the vacancies are generally advertised in the newspapers and the minimum prescribed qualification is graduation with 50% marks. They are trained by the hotels themselves.
There are a lot of educational institutes that provide professional degrees in hotel management. Below are listed a few institutes that offer Hotel Management Degrees:
- AMITY UNIVERSITY
- National Council of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, New Delhi,
- The Welcome Group Graduate school of Hotel Administration, Manipal,
- National Institute of Hotel Management, Dehradun,
- ITM Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Navi Mumbai,
- Merit Swiss Asian School of Hotel Management, Ooty
In Indian hotel industry major players among the Indian Hotels are EIH, ITC Hotels, Hotel Leela Ventures, Bharat Hotels and Asian Hotels. Several International chains including Sheraton, Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Hyatt, Radisson, Best Western, Days Inn, Hilton, Quality Inn, Ramada Inn, Meridien, Kempenski, Four Seasons, Regent, Radisson and Marriott International are entering and expanding their hotel network in India. In restaurants, several foreign chains like McDonalds, Pizza Express, Dominos, Barista, Pizza Hut, and PepsiCo’s Kentucky Fried Chicken have made a major presence.
Hotel Industry offers dynamic and exciting career options. Those who want to build a career in hospitality are required to be flexible and adaptable. They are also required to possess an eye for detail. Above all the should not be afraid of hard work.
For Comments: psjamwal@amity.edu
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Travel and tourism: Education and career |
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