Welcome to the first piece in the series of Hospitality Industry Careers - the "secret" hospitality jobs.
My name is Maria and as your host, I am here to help hospitality students and graduates succeed in their careers through industry tips and career advice.
This is the first piece of the Hospitality Industry Careers series and today we’re looking at Hotel Careers.
See the hotel as more than the building itself and discover an endless amount of career opportunities!
The purpose of this series is to show you the full picture of the hospitality industry and the careers within it. Because I firmly believe that the better informed you are about the reality of your career options, the better decisions you are going to make.
Learn more about Sharing Economy Careers here, Restaurant Careers here, Travel Careers here, Events careers here, and Technology Hospitality Careers here!
Now, the first topic in this hospitality careers series is Hotel Careers.
If you prefer to consume this in video format, here's the link tot he YouTube video:
First, let's look at some hotel sector stats
4 Hotel Statistics to get in the mood
Global Hotel Industry Total Retail Value
600.49bn USD. That's a lot!...
Average Daily Rate in Hotels in Europe
129.70 USD. What do you think about that? The difference between budget and luxury is huge but the average is still pretty low!
In 2017 US Traveler Favourite Hotel Loyalty Programme was
Marriott Rewards! Now, of course, called Marriott Bonvoy.
Most Valuable Hotel Brand in 2020...
... ...
Drumroll...!
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Hilton Hotels & Resorts! Wohoo!
Now that we're in the hotel mood, let's dive into Hotel Careers!
Planning your career
I bet your first thought when it comes to hotel jobs and careers is something like this: work at the front desk, work your way up to director of rooms, and eventually, become a general manager.
Not only is that no longer the reality of how real hotel careers work, but if you really want to be a General Manager, the future GMs will not have those career paths. 15-20 years from now, they’re going to have very different expectations and skill set requirements. The traditional path will not be enough.
If you want to know more about what jobs there are in every hotel department, to help you get started, check out the Hotel Guide in Resources, where you can learn about every job in a hotel!
By understanding all the bits that make the hotel and how they’re all connected you will see the bigger picture outside of that typical career path.
See the bigger picture
Imagine a hotel building, you have arrived on a business trip. You are entering the building and checking in, walking to your room, jumping on the bed, checking out the bathroom. Got to make sure it's all there!
You then set yourself up at the desk, put your laptop our and your phone to charge. Shortly you call up the guest services and make a dinner reservation at one of the hotel’s restaurants before getting prepared for tomorrow’s event you’re attending at the hotel.
The touchpoints that you’ve interacted with, are bigger than the elements themselves. Let’s expand on them a little more.
On the table below, I split the journey you just imagined into a few segments. I listed some key touchpoints of each segment below.
Each piece in these lists must be supplied by a company and someone must manufacture and produce the item, but even before that, someone must place the order. This is all before the item gets to you.
Are you starting to get the point of the bigger picture?
Now think of all the things you interact with, in a hotel,