Hospitality is a booming market to dive into at the moment and when it comes to India it is so deeply ingrained in our culture that hospitality is a highly regarded virtue in our society. A hotel management career in India seems promising and let’s jump right into why. The country with its one and a half billion inhabitants is not really as big as it seems, there are tourists and travelers and there are people in our own country that are moving around all the time- temporary places to crash are always needed! Hotels are in constant demand. The sheer number of guests in these hotels is astounding and to cater to their needs is no easy task.
A hefty workforce drives our hospitality sector, these people are skilled, hardworking and on the clock for almost the entire day. This also implies there are shifts and multiple people managing these shifts working at the same profile- there are a lot of opportunities.
The advent of electronic hotel booking services like Oyo and AirBnB have expanded the realm of hotel management from large multinational chains and locally owned businesses to even two-story condiments that are reworked into hotels and sanctioned for the service users of these online hotel booking portals and search engines. GoIbibo, MakeMyTrip, and Trivago have attained meme status and that alone has propelled their usage to higher figures. This directly impacts the demand for hotels, resorts, and restaurants as the ones that were not even on the map are getting reviewed and popping up into user’s syndicated feeds to lure more customers in.
So how does one start a hotel management career? The first step is getting enrolled in a course designed for hotel management. A bachelor’s degree in hotel management is offered by culinary schools and vocational colleges. The basic requirement for entry is a 10+2 or senior secondary school grade education. If not in need of a bachelor’s degree, a potential student can opt for a diploma or short term certification course too. In India, the government recognizes some Schools and Colleges as legitimate educators in the field and to gain enrollment into one of these institutions, a common admission test held in April of every year must first be cleared, it tests students for general aptitude, communication in English, basic sciences and general knowledge. After the test, a group discussion and personal interview follow to get a graded profile of the student that ultimately decides if they are eligible or not.
A PGDM course can also be completed in this stream and the average tuition per annum for the bachelor’s, diploma and PGDM courses is about eighty thousand rupees. The bachelor’s degree spans three years, while the PGDM is for a year and diploma for two. Some relevant skills that are great for propelling a career in hotel management forward are good interpersonal communication skills, problem-solving ability, good culinary skills, aptitude for catering innovation and an ability to maintain temper amidst criticism and potential disputes.
A hotel much like any other business is a culmination of various different departments- logistics, operations, retail, catering, housekeeping, accounting, marketing, sales, maintenance, security and front desk. All of these are field of study for students of hotel management and they’re somewhat trained to handle every situation. Specialization is developed as a part of work in this domain and freshers can start at just about any position. The major profiles available to them are- Club Associate Manager, Airline Caterer, Flight Cabin Crew, Cruise Ship Manager, Kitchen Crew Manager, Laundry Manager, Front Desk Officer, Marketing Manager, Grievances Manager, etc.
While the private sector remains the prime employer, there are various government initiatives that hire hotel management students, such as railways, airlines, forest department, the Indian Navy, the army, government hotel, and tourism association. MNCs and Cruise Liners are hiring in bulk and restaurants are always looking for a kitchen crew to support the chef. The salary of a fresher is anywhere between 70k to 1LPA and scales as they’re trained and positioned into better jobs with time. In conclusion, a decent career can be progressed into, in Hotel management in India.
