Required Skills for a Graduate Career in Hospitality Sector Analysis

This essay explores the essential skills required for a successful graduate career in the tourism, hospitality, or event industry, focusing on the context of Cyprus and its thriving hospitality sector. It emphasizes the importance of customer service, effective communication (both written and oral), and cultural awareness for interacting with a diverse clientele. The essay also highlights the value of practical experience, such as industrial placements, and the educational qualifications needed for roles such as hotel manager. It discusses career opportunities within specific hotel companies like The Four Seasons Hotel Limassol and outlines the training and qualifications required for career progression, referencing relevant academic sources and industry insights. The essay concludes by reflecting on the career progression expectations within the industry.

Key skills required, for a
graduate career, in the
tourism, hospitality or event
industry

Table of Contents
ESSAY ............................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

ESSAY
Cyprus, surrounded by rich blue of the Mediterranean Sea the Cypriot islands are a rich
tapestry of history, culture and natural beauty, these are all aspects that flourish hospitality
industry (Jauhari and Bharwani, 2017). It has been found that the constant form of employment
in many areas is hospitality sector, and also a nice place for youngsters to break into the
professional world. However, there are many positions in this industry with entry level, while
others demand many skills and offer both great prestige and excellent compensation. Further,
being successful in this industry, is all about more than a passion of the craft. Of-course, I do
need passion but I will also need a whole host of other skills to make my career out of it.
Due to my interest in Hospitality industry, I have decided to study at College of Tourism
and Hotel Management in Cyprus. There I have learnt about various types of skills that are
required in hospitality sector. The college was established in 1987 and is the best for hotel
management. I have observed that more and more high school graduates are discovering
advantages of a career in this sector. I am interested in hospitality industry because hospitality
management careers offer fun and challenging work environment. I identified that, hospitality
management graduates with the right skills, understanding and knowledge can move forward to a
diverse choice of international careers.
High level of customer service; which states that hospitality management career is all
about working in customer facing environment. Therefore, in order to get successful in this
sector one has to make sure that customers are continuously entertained and have a good time in
the hotel. If an individual's service is not up to the mark, negative feedback from guests can
spread quickly. So, it is necessary for me to remember that in hospitality the customer is always
right (Kang, Gatling and Kim, 2015).
Good communication skills; are the utmost priority skills that everyone must have while
working in hospitality industry. As the job in this sector can be both physically and mentally
demanding and requires a lot of interaction between customers, management and staff. In order
to ensure all these and for smooth working environment, my effective oral and written
communication must be executed at all aspects of the operations (Nachmias and Walmsley,
2015).
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High level of cultural awareness; as I am planning on progressing in hospitality, I am
going to face a lot of different types of guests from various different places. In order to succeed, I
need to be sensitive and understanding to different cultures, races, religious and nationalities.
It is necessary for me to gain experience in the sector to acquire degree of The Bachelor's
degree in Hospitality Management as I wish to become a Hotel Manager in hospitality industry.
This is because it is difficult to find another field that offers similar professional satisfaction & as
much employment opportunities (Hotel Manger, 2018).
However, there are various option of hotel companies in Cyprus for my career such as;
Elysium, Mediterranean Beach, Alexander The Great Beach Hotel. But my desire is to work in
The Four Seasons Hotel Limassol which has completed major renovation, reopening with a
refined look, feel and functionality. The company is independently owned that lies on a private
part of Limassol's coastline offering 5 star accommodation facilities. Further, I have also
identified that the hotel's new concept is the result of targeted, deep investigation into the trends
and information of elite living. It is essential for me to gain as much experience as I can in the
hospitality industry that offer industrial placement, that will enable me to place academic
learning into practice. Moreover, placement in such a sector will also provide me a valuable
opportunity to learn from highly experienced colleagues and allow me to discover my special
area of interest within the industry.
According to my interest in hotel manager post, I will be responsible for the day to day
management of hotel and its staff members. I will be also accountable commercially for
budgeting and financing management. In addition, the post also requires planning, organising
and directing all services of the hotel that also involves front office, good and beverages
functions and housekeeping. Further, they have mentioned the education required by candidate is
formal training, bachelor's in business management or hospitality, salary will be $49,720 and job
growth is 8% for all managers. The managers are supposed to have sound organisational skills
and must be self-starters (Walsh, Chang and Tse, 2015.).
Qualifications required to achieve my desired post are; business with languages, business
or management, hotel and hospitality management, studies in travel, tourism and leisure. Further,
the job description provided by The Four Seasons Hotel states that, an individual will be
responsible for managing employees, for planning, marketing, coordinating and controlling hotel
services such as catering and accommodation facilities. Employers often ask for relevant work
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experience which include any customer focus work such as catering, bar or retail work which is
non-of my concern. The Four Seasons Hotel offers graduate recruitment programmes for
managers, and through this I would be able to progress to top management posts through
experience. At the time of training program I will be supported by senior managers and thy ill
conduct regular progress reviews. Moreover, much of training will be provided in-house but I
can also take qualification from outside, involving the Pearson Edexcel Level 4 Diploma in
Hospitality management. Other than this, due to young workforce in hospitality industry and
employees turnover is high, promotion prospects are good for motivated graduates. However, it
may take long time to reach to the post of hotel manager, may be 5 to 6 years but still I will work
hard to reach that post.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Jauhari, V. and Bharwani, S., 2017. An exploratory study of competencies required to cocreate
memorable customer experiences in the hospitality industry. In Hospitality Marketing and
Consumer Behavior (pp. 159-185). Apple Academic Press.
Kang, H. J., Gatling, A. and Kim, J., 2015. The impact of supervisory support on organizational
commitment, career satisfaction, and turnover intention for hospitality frontline
employees. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism. 14(1). pp.68-89.
Nachmias, S. and Walmsley, A., 2015. Making career decisions in a changing graduate labour
market: A hospitality perspective. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism
Education. 17. pp.50-58.
Walsh, K., Chang, S. and Tse, E. C. Y., 2015. Understanding students’ intentions to join the
hospitality industry: The role of emotional intelligence, service orientation, and industry
satisfaction. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. 56(4). pp.369-382.
Online
Hotel Manger. 2018. [Online]. Available on: <https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/hotel-
manager>
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