If you have ever dreamed of working in the hotel management industry, you should know that this type of job comes with many exciting and even challenging opportunities. In order to manage a hotel successfully, you will need a certain set of skills as well as managerial knowledge. In this article, get detailed information on how to get started in the hotel management business.

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Extra: The Huge Impact of COVID-19 on Hotel Management

What is The Hotel Industry?

The hotel industry deals with all types of guest accommodation. In fact, the hotel industry not only relates to luxury hotels and resorts, but it also includes overnight accommodation in guesthouses, motels, inns, and hostels as short-term types of accommodation. The main purpose of hotels is to provide guest travellers with food, drinks, services, and shelter whilst they are away from home. More information about the hotel industry you can find in the article “Hotel Industry; Everything You Need to Know About Hotels!”.

What is Hotel Management All About?

Hotel management involves the management of anything that’s related to the hotel industry. If you want to gain a foothold in this business, you will need to learn about all the techniques of managing a hotel business including marketing, hotel administration, catering management, housekeeping, and accounts. The primary goal behind learning the ins and outs of hotel management is to run a hotel successfully while managing the other aspects of the business at the same time.

What is the Difference Between Hospitality and Hotel Management?

The main difference between hotel management and hospitality management is as the name suggests, hotel management, covers all aspects of managing a hotel, whereas hospitality management is a broader term that deals with people management in sectors, such as nightclubs, casinos, restaurants, transportation, and even hotels.

A Brief History of Hotel Management

From the early 17th century, business owners across America started building and establishing inns to serve the accommodation needs of travellers. At the beginning, these inns only offered basic services, but as time went by and demand for short-term accommodation grew, the hotel owners became prepared to provide guests with more facilities. Since then, the hotel industry expanded further as people were willing to pay more for better quality services. This industry has always strove to fulfil the changing demands of the society and has developed into an essential part of the economy. Today, travellers can find different types of accommodation based on their budget, from cheap bed and breakfasts, to luxurious 5-star hotels.

Which Degree Do You Need For Hotel Management?

To qualify as a hotel manager, you will usually need a bachelor’s degree with extensive work experience. However, in some cases a school diploma will suffice if the candidate has vast knowledge and work experience in the hotel industry. In addition to a degree or diploma, you can expect to take up courses in economics, catering management, accounting, finance, marketing, hospitality, and/or computer studies. Some universities also offer advanced Masters degrees in hospitality management, which are often taken by hotel managers who are looking to progress to regional management positions.

What Kind of Jobs Can You Get With a Hotel Management Degree?

Hotel management can open up a vast number of other opportunities in the industry including cruise ship hotel management, restaurant management, catering management, airline catering services, and guest house management. Some of the job positions that are related to your degree are:

  • Accommodation manager
  • Retail manager
  • Event organiser
  • Hotel manager
  • Catering manager
  • Restaurant manager
  • Pub manager
  • Customer service manager
  • HR manager
  • Travel agent

The Essentials on Hotel Operations

Hotel operations teach you how to become knowledgeable in all aspects of hotel management and operations. You will learn about the key features of hotels and their responsibilities to customers as well as how to provide a good service to guests. The aim of this course is to train those who wish to work in the hotel industry the knowledge and expertise to become competent hotel managers. The hotel operations and management departments require well-trained staff to ensure customer satisfaction.

No matter what size or standard hotel you wish to manage, you must have the adequate understanding and skills to cater to the different demands of guests. The marketing part of hotels is another essential process that helps managers promote their business and prosper. These and much more are all covered by the hotel operation courses.

What Are the Different Hotel Departments?

There are a number of different hotel departments, which must all work together to achieve shared objectives and deliver a positive experience for guests. The main departments seen in successful hotels are:

Management & Finance Department

Hotel management is critical to the success of a guest accommodation business, and the management and finance department oversees the core day-to-day operations. This can include managing hotel services, overseeing events, devising strategies, solving problems, and meeting with business partners. The finance aspect, meanwhile, involves managing all aspects of hotel finances, including tracking revenue and expenditure, and planning financial strategies.

Food & Beverage Hotel Department

The food and beverage department also contributes to successful hotel management, because many properties make much of their revenue through selling food and drinks to guests. This department is responsible for purchasing the ingredients and stock needed by hotel restaurants and bars, preparing meals, and serving food and drinks.

Front Office Hotel Department

The front office hotel department is the department that serves as the face of the hotel, handling issues like reservations, guest services, and processing payments. It is the department that most often comes in contact with customers and the front office must also collaborate closely with hotel management and other departments.

Housekeeping Hotel Department

The housekeeping department within a hotel works to provide guests with a safe, comfortable, clean and visually pleasing environment. Core duties include cleaning rooms, changing sheets, carrying out laundry duties, upholding quality standards and reporting issues to maintenance teams or to senior hotel management figures.

Maintenance Hotel Department

The maintenance department in a hotel is responsible for maintaining all hotel equipment, tools, and technology, including repairing broken pipes, heating systems, air conditioning units, and items within hotel rooms and common areas. Often, repair requests will be issued by hotel management, or by the housekeeping team.

Reservations & Marketing Hotel Department

The reservations and marketing department is in charge of all activities related to hotel reservations, including processing reservations, amending bookings, and keeping room availability information updated. On top of this, marketing duties can include online and offline advertising, content marketing, search engine optimisation, and more.

Human Resource Hotel Department

Finally, the Human Resources department is in charge of many of the duties that are directly related to the workforce itself, including talent acquisition, training and the development of employees, ensuring hotel management is in-keeping with labour laws and regulations, interviewing, and overseeing the provision of employee benefits.

Read “Hotel Departments: Learn About All the 7 Sections of a Hotel” for more information.

Hotel Marketing Strategies

Hotel owners have always implemented different marketing techniques and strategies to make their business visible to the public and maximise revenue. Thanks to the wide network of new technology tools, hotels must learn how to adapt to the latest strategies in order not to fall behind competitors. The hotel industry knows how to keep up with the growing demands of customers by adapting their services to the customers’ preferences. This is the only way they can attract more clients. In the article ‘Hotel marketing strategies’ you can gain an insight into the most essential strategies to deploy your online marketing.

The Latest Hotel Marketing Trends

In the highly competitive digital era, it is vital to stay ahead of the competition and know the most effective hotel marketing strategies that work. Your hotel business can suffer badly if you don’t learn about the new marketing trends. Regardless of whether you own a chain of hotels, or just a small budget-friendly guesthouse, it is important to be aware of the latest marketing trends and how your business can benefit from them. The article, ‘Hotel Marketing; The Latest Trends in the Hotel Industry’ reveals tricks on how hotels are using the latest marketing trends to their advantage.

Hotel Revenue Management

Hotel revenue management is one of the least understood aspects of the hotel management business. While many hotel owners understand the importance of proper revenue management strategies in order to increase occupancy, they don’t always utilise it in their business. Although revenue management is not something new to this industry, it is, nevertheless, highly valued by those hotel managers who are running successful businesses. With the changing faces of booking patterns, adopting a robust hotel revenue management strategy is of utmost importance. Discover the importance of using the right revenue management strategies for your business by referring to this article, ‘Hotel Revenue Management – Optimising your Hotel Revenue’.

Tech Trends in the Hotel Industry

Not so long ago, motels, inns, hotels, and other related businesses offered a fairly basic service to guests who wanted to spend a little time away from their homes. The hotel industry has come a long way in the last few years, thanks to the vital role technology has played in the expansion of these businesses. Most hotels rely on technology either directly or indirectly in order to offer their guests an enhanced experience. The article, ‘Hotel Technology Trends’ provides an interesting insight into the significance of hotel technology trends and what they mean for the hotel industry as a whole.

Consumer Trends in The Hotel Industry

The world is moving faster than ever, as shifting social attitudes, new technologies, and economic and demographic changes all drive seismic shifts in the ways we live, do business and work. Any business that’s involved in the hotel industry must know the significance of keeping up with the hotel sector’s emerging trends. In order to avoid disappointing customers and falling behind competitors, you need to keep your pulse on the constantly changing trends that are happening. In the article “Hotel industry Trends: keep Up With The Latest Developments!” you will learn about the important changes that’ll be making an impact on the way hotel professionals manage their hotel.

Important Hotel Software Solutions

Technology in the hotel sector continues to grow at a rapid pace. In fact, hotel owners looking to improve their business heavily rely on software technologies to streamline their processes and enhance their day-to-day business operations. The key to reaping into the benefits of the most effective hotel software is to learn what it is and how it works. Only then are you able to implement it at your hotel management business. In the article, ‘Hotel Software Every Hotel Needs’, you will learn all about the most important software solutions for better hotel management and how they can maximise business results.

Advice for Advancing Your Hotel Career

For those with an interest in hotel careers, there are a number of ways to stand out and enhance both your short-term and long-term prospects. Whether you are just starting out, or on the lookout hotel management position, there are always things you can do to boost your chances of securing the job you want.

In “Advice for Advancing Your Hotel Career“, you can read through a list of 10 tips to help you find the right position, catch the eye of employers, impress during your interview and find work.

Job Boards: Find Your Ideal Hotel Job

If you are looking for a hotel management or executive positions, the best option may be to turn to specialist hotel job boards. These platforms will provide listings of the various vacancies that exist within the hotel industry and many job boards offer additional benefits besides, making it easier to land the ideal role for you.

Read the article “Job Boards: Find Your Ideal Hotel Job” to learn more.

Channels for Finding Hotel Management Jobs Online

Many people dream of moving into a managerial role, but to give yourself the best possible chance of finding the right hotel management jobs for your skill set, it is best to use a combination of channels. This may include approaching hotels directly, using social networking sites, or going through recruitment agencies or jobs boards.

Read “Channels for Finding Hotel Management Jobs Online” to learn more about the different channels that are available, complete with a list of some of the most popular websites and platforms.

Tips for Finding a Hotel Manager Job

Becoming a hotel manager can be extremely rewarding, due to how varied the role is and how wide-ranging the responsibilities can be. However, it is crucial to know that hotel management positions are highly sought-after, and understanding the requirements can help to give your prospects a significant boost.

Read “Tips for Finding a Hotel Manager Job” to learn more about the nature of the role, as well as the experience, skills and qualifications necessary to successfully land a hotel management position.

Overview of the Most Common Hotel Positions

There are a large number of different job roles within a typical hotel, from hotel management and senior departmental leaders, through to kitchen staff and front desk workers. Having an understanding of the main hotel positions can help to improve your knowledge of the industry and can assist with personal career management too.

Read “Overview of the Most Common Hotel Positions” for a breakdown of the jobs you would expect to find in most hotels, along with a description of what each role actually entails.

How to Make Sure You Hire the Best Hotel Staff

For those in recruitment and hotel management roles, finding suitable new employees is a major responsibility. Successful hotels are able to identify when they need to hire new hotel staff and then take the necessary steps to pinpoint what positions need to be filled and what skills and qualities the new recruits will need to bring to the table.

In our “How to Make Sure You Hire the Best Hotel Staff” article, you will learn more about why and when you should hire new employees, complete with seven tips that will help you to choose the best candidates for your needs.

List of Chains for Finding Hotel Vacancies

When hotel vacancies need to be fulfilled, those responsible for hotel management and recruitment will often advertise jobs on their own website. As a result, whether you are looking to start your career in the hotel industry, or looking to take the next step in an existing career in the industry, it makes sense to browse these websites.

Read “List of Chains for Finding Hotel Vacancies” to find out more about the application process, complete with a list of some of the most popular and successful hotel chains to explore.

A Global Overview of Hotel Schools

If you really want to begin a career in hotel management, you’ll need to obtain proper training and education first. A degree in hotel management may be for you. In our article “Hotel Schools: Global List of Hotel Management Schools”, you’ll discover the top hotel schools and their courses. Topics and modes of instruction are very varied and cover every possible concept associated with the hotel industry. One school might focus more on the day-to-day running of a hotel, while others might focus on upper management. Topics span from asset management and hotel accountancy to food and beverage management or hygiene.

An Overview of Popular Hotel Management Courses

“Hotel Management Course: List of The Most Popular Courses” covers the definition of hotel management as a subject, and goes on to introduce many of the most important educators in the field. Find out about the top 10 courses in hotel management and how you can use them to develop your career. You’ll learn how hotel schools can help you and which hotel management courses are available. You’ll learn how flexible courses can allow you to fit in your studies around your normal work, letting you develop your career without risking your current position.

Unlock Hotel Management Opportunities With a Hotel Course

There are many different responsibilities associated with hotel management, and the role requires an in-depth knowledge of the industry and hotel operations, along with specific hotel-related skills. For this reason, many employers prefer candidates to have completed a hotel course that teaches them the most important elements.

Take a look at the “Hotel Course: A List of Courses & Hotel Educators” article for a more in-depth exploration of hotel courses, the educators that actually design and offer these courses, and websites that can help you find them.

Video About Hotel Management

Below you find a video from Brentwood Open Learning College which explains more about hotel management.

 

Guide For Hotel Owners and Managers

Hotel management is a highly competitive job that requires knowledge and experience. As a hotel manager, you must balance capacity and demand by maximising the effectiveness of your hotel’s facilities and resources. You must also keep up with the rising online travel agencies that have added another dimension to this industry. Developing your hotel revenue management requires new measures to be adopted for the purpose of customer satisfaction. While hotel marketing and revenue management can be complex, there are many low-cost and effective strategies you can use in your hotel business.

Here is a free comprehensive guide to ‘Revenue Management & Hotel Marketing Strategies’ that includes practical advice and tips on how to optimise revenue.

Once you have successfully started your career in hotel management, keep in mind that you will need ongoing training in the form of personal development courses and workshops in order to stay updated with this ever-changing industry. Hotel managers must always ensure their skills and knowledge are kept up-to-date with the latest market trends, or else they will risk falling behind their competitors.

The Huge Impact of COVID-19 on Hotel Management

Since the beginning of the year, the corona crisis has made a significant impact on Hotel Management. The full or partial lock downs ordered by governments around the world have made travelling impossible. There have also been many regional and international events getting cancelled because of corona virus fears, such as the Olympic Games in Japan and the largest travel event, ITB Berlin.

The coronavirus brought with it an uncertain future for the hotel and hospitality industry. With the cancellation of business trips and events around the world, fewer people are keen to plan their 2020 or even 2021 holidays, especially now that their job security is at risk.

With small and large hotel chains facing occupancy declines of up to 90 per cent, some have no choice but to cease business as they are forced to cancel bookings. This has resulted in significant revenue loss for hoteliers. There are also many hotel owners who are desperately trying to keep their head above water by waiting to see what happens.

In the category “Corona” you find a selection of tips which helps businesses operating in the hospitality and travel industry to recover and prepare for better times.

Want to Learn More About Management in Related Industries?

All hospitality, travel and tourism-related industries have commonalities, however, management in each industry is influenced by specific unique factors. In the following articles, you can learn more about management within related industries.

More Tips to Grow Your Business

Revfine.com is a knowledge platform for the hospitality & travel industry. Professionals use our insights, strategies and actionable tips to get inspired, optimise revenue, innovate processes and improve customer experience. You can find all hotel & hospitality tips in the categories Revenue Management, Marketing & Distribution, Hotel Operations, Staffing & Career, Technology and Software.

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