The hospitality industry offers many career paths and options for those who enjoy interacting with people and providing them with the support they need. One such career is hotel management, which involves overseeing all aspects of the operations and running of a hotel. This requires knowledge of distribution strategy, customer service, personnel management, marketing, finance and many more.
Many of these functions require specialists. However, not all properties have the ability to spend on hiring a full team of staff and a hotel manager is expected to have a working knowledge of these functions.
SKILLS REQUIRED IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT
Even though hospitality management offers some of the best career and salary growth prospects, the course and hospitality as an industry is considered one of the most demanding jobs.
Hospitality management professionals must contend with long hours and harsh working conditions before they can hope to succeed in the field.
Candidates should be detail-oriented, culturally aware, have good communication and customer service skills, be able to function independently and as part of a team, be patient, flexible and quick to resolve issues.
While these qualities are a hallmark of good hotel management professionals, it is also very important to have formal theoretical and practical knowledge of the field.
COURSE IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT
There are many hotel management courses in India. At the undergraduate level, degree and diploma courses are available. Diploma courses usually last 6 months to 3 years, while diploma courses usually last 3 to 4 years.
At the postgraduate level, a candidate can choose to take degree courses like PGD in Hospitality Management (1 year) and Master in Hospitality Management (2 years) or MBA in Hospitality Management (2 years).
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR HOTEL MANAGEMENT
Eligibility criteria can generally vary depending on the program. Completion of 12th grade (Standard XII/Intermediate/10+2) is considered a minimum requirement for admission to hotel management courses in India. Some colleges also accept students after completing 10th grade.
BEST HOTEL MANAGEMENT EXAMS IN INDIA
Many entrance exams are held for admission into hotel management colleges in India. Some institutes set specific entrance exam requirements and some have their own entrance exams. Applicants should ensure that they meet all of the eligibility criteria for the exam or college they wish to apply for.
Entrance exams for hotel management in India are held at both national and state level.
Some popular national level exams are NCHMCT JEE, AIMA UGAT and IIM eCHAT and some state level exams are UPSEE BHMCT, MAH-B.HMCT CET, UKSEE BHMCT and WB JEHOM.
Once the results of the exam are known, students must attend a personal interview. A merit list for exams is released 3-4 weeks after the exam is held.
It is important to note that diploma and certificate courses in hotel management generally do not have common entrance exams.
These are short courses and are designed to prepare candidates to work in certain niches in the hospitality industry and these courses often vary in terms of curriculum and teaching methodology.
Most admissions to certificate courses offered at hotels and small institutes in India are often on the basis of interviews.
CAREERS IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT
Hotel management opens up many career opportunities. Job opportunities are spread across hotels, restaurants, airline kitchens, cruise liners, fast food chains, and even the hospitality and catering departments of the Indian Army and Navy.
CONCLUSION
India has a wide scope for tourism in almost all sectors. India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) in a report mentions that the number of tourists in India is expected to reach over 30 million by 2028, thus also doubling the contribution of the tourism industry to the country’s GDP from USD 251 billion to around 500 billion dollars.
With various government programs like Swadesh Darshan aiming to attract more foreign tourists to India, trained professionals in this sector are always in high demand.
Article by Ruchir Arora, CEO and Co-Founder, CollegeDekho.
