CAREERS IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM

• Hotel Management
• Travel and Tourism

Introduction
Hospitality and tourism industry comprises different segments which include food services, lodging, boarding, recreation and travel management. All these segments go hand in hand to attract customers, so that they come and wud money. The hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing areas of our economy. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. It offers workers the opportunity to work in multiple areas. This fast growing industry requires a constant, supply of workers and managers who are qualified and trained to fill a wide range of positions. There are many hi3s in the hospitality industry. To be successful in this field you need to have good people skills and be able to cope with an ever changing environment.The industry can be glamorous and exciting and can offer you the chance to travel. Ever changing challenges and exploding job growth the reason the hospitality has thrived for so long. As long as there are people on this planet, hospitality workers will be needed to take care of their needs while away from home a The range of employment opportunities in this industry is vast. The two main domains under Hospitality Industry are:
• Hotel Management
• Travel and Tourism

Nature of work
Depending on the size of the hotel, the departments and duties of the personnel differ. In smaller hotels the main person may oversee everything personally, or they may have a whole team of support staff at large resorts with many services and hundreds of staff. The various departments and their work are listed below.

Personal Attributes
Hotel Management as a hi3 requires a friendly, helpful, outgoing personality. Different departments have different specific attributes and skill requirements. In general those opting for a hi3 in this field should have good organizational background, good interpersonal skills and strong work commitment and self-discipline. Those who interact directly with guests must be extroverts co-operative, polite and respectful to the guests, having patience to deal with guest grievances, willing to work hard even at odd hours and yet being cheerful. They need to have the ability to plan and prioritize work, multi-task and work quickly especially in “peak hours” with a lot of activity happening around. Not only that, they need to be very conscious about their appearance by dressing neatly, ensuring clean hair and nails, practicing good hygiene habits.

Employment opportunities
Lots of lucrative and interesting openings are there for hotel management graduates in various fields like: Hotel & Restaurant Services, Clubs and casinos management, Catering departments of Airlines, Railways, Banks, Armed Forces, Shipping companies, Cruise ships etc. Hospital administration and catering, Hotel and Tourism Associations, Institutional Management supervising canteens in college, schools, factories, company guest houses etc.

How to Enter
After 10+2 with any stream a student can do an under graduate programme in Hospitality management.

Major Entrance Exam
1) Council for Hotel Management& Catering Technology www.nchmct.org Candidates are called for an objective type written entrance examination called IEE (All India Joint Entrance Exam) of 200marks and 3 hrs duration held in April at the specified centers which tests the candidate’s ability in:
(a) Reasoning and Logical Deduction (30 marks)
(b) Numerical Ability and Scientific Aptitude (30 marks)
(c) General Knowledge (30 marks)
(d) English Language (80 marks)
(e) Aptitude for service sector (30 marks)
Qualified candidates are called for interview which is held at Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai and Lucknow.

2) Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD)
Application process for these programmes begins in February each year. The programmes commence in June. The ofthe admission in undergraduate courses includes three rounds of selection test.
Round 1 :Candidates are divided into groups of 15-20 participants and are taken through a round of activities and which evaluates the candidates on grooming, poise and spoken English.
Round 2 : Short-listed candidates from Round l are taken for a one-on-one meeting with a panel comprising of OCLD faculty. Here, the evaluator checks the candidates’ aptitude for hospitality and gets to know them better.
Round 3 : Short-listed candidates from Round 2 will be invited for counselling and an orientation in May.

Institute of Hotel Management
(Taj group) Selection Procedure Applicants will be required to take an Objective written test, which will be of 90 minutes duration and will carry 100 marks. Questions will pertain to Abstract Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Numerical Reasoning, and General Knowledge
To qualify the written test, candidates will require to score at least 45% marks. Candidates short-listed after the examination will be required to appear for a Group Discussion and a Personal Interview at a later date.
Group Discussion will be of 50 marks and Personal interview of 100 marks. The Personal Interview will be assessed on the following five criteria: Communication Skill, Alertness and Analytical Skill, General Awareness, Warmth and Service Orientation, Personality
The marks weight age for the categories will be as follows:

List of Govt. Affiliated Institute of Hotel Management Offering 3-Year B.Sc. Program

List of Affiliated Private Institute of Hotel Management Offering 3-Year B.Sc. Program

List of other Institutes offering courses in Hotel Management

Nature of work
Work in the travel and tourism industry is essentially concerned with providing services for people who are away from home, on business or holiday. Travel can be leisure travel involving package tours, pilgrim travel, and adventure travel etc or purely business. Work at every functional level in the industry involves dealing directly with people. Travel agents assess the needs of tourists and businessmen and help them make the best possible travel arrangements from the many travel options available. Also, many major cruise lines, resorts, and specialty travel groups use travel agents to promote travel packages to the millions of people who travel every year. Travel company personnel must be up-to-date on current rules and regulations and documentation required, in areas like cargo, ticketing and passports, visas etc. so as to correctly advise their clients, and to take care ofthe paperwork when necessary. Besides this, all tourism staff in marketing, counter sales, or guide services, should be knowledgeable about the places their clients visit, in terms of general background, how to get there connections by air, rail and road and the facilities available.

Personal Attributes
Commrnunication and presentation skills are essential in the industry where service to the customer is importance.An outgoing, friendly personality, ability to handle people, verbal fluency, and for languages will be advantageous to be successful in this field. One should also have an up-to- knorwledge of available facilities and services in the field. In the administrative or managerial level, ability, an ability to make quick and accurate decisions, solve problems, work effectively team will be essential. This also calls for high level of patience, hard work, responsibility, good skills, creative abilities and ability to handle emergencies.

Employment opportunities
Opportunities exist in both the public and the private sector in this industry.ln the public you can work in the Central and State Directorates and Departments of tourism. In the private on the other hand you can secure a job in a travel agency, hotel, airline, transport agency or cargo since this industry is a relatively new one, there are less experienced individuals and one can more up the ladder fast and establish your own agency after a few years of experience.