Tag Archive for 'hotel management'

Hospitality and Tourism Careers

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on June 6, 2011
in Culinary Career
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Travel and tourismCombining culinary training, a hospitality degree, and the tourism field can put you on the map for a great future. The travel and tourism industry accounts for around 8 percent of the world’s workforce, with even more opportunities opening up every year. And because your skills and experience can take you to places you never imagined, this is an ideal career field if you are just finishing culinary school and wonder where to turn next.

Tourism-Based Culinary Jobs

The tourism and travel industry encompasses a wide range of employment options. Cruise lines, hotels, resorts, airlines, spas, bed and breakfast facilities, and even restaurants in the heart of a tourist center are all part of this booming industry. If you have a culinary degree or a background in hospitality management, you could find gainful employment here. Some of the top jobs include:

  • Chef (Executive, Sous, Line, Prep)
  • Food Service Managers
  • General Managers
  • Food Service
  • Bartending
  • Hotel Management

Many of the tourism companies (especially once you start considering five-star hotels and top resorts) offer a very high level of service. This means they want chefs who are experienced in fine dining, and hospitality managers who know how to work with an elite clientele. Whether you work up from an entry-level job or transfer from an existing position, it’s important to have the right training and education.

Travel and Tourism Programs

If you are considering going to culinary school or entering a hospitality management program, be sure and look for the following:

Are they found in an area with good internship opportunities? You don’t have to live in Miami or Hawaii in order to enter this field, but being able to train in a top-ranked hotel or resort can really boost your chances of landing a good job.

Can you get the degree you want? Especially in hotel management, having a Bachelor’s degree (or higher) is key in finding good jobs and getting the right promotions.

Are there international opportunities? One of the best reasons to get into the tourism industry is so that you can see the world. A program that is willing to send you abroad to learn about other cultures, foods, and languages could be ideal in getting started.

Both culinary and hospitality management degrees can help you enter the tourism industry. Whether you get a certificate of completion from a vocational school, an Associate degree from community college, or a higher degree from a university, your employers want to know that you have the training necessary to provide quality service day in and day out. After all, they may be taking on a risk paying for your transfer from another city or for your room and board on their cruise line, and you are an important part of their success.

Related Topics:

Cooking and the Tourism Industry

Food Service Managers

Find a Culinary or Hospitality Management School in Your City

Hospitality Management Programs: The Lodging Operations Course

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on April 18, 2011
in Hospitality Management
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Lodging OperationsHospitality management is a great career path for those who want to straddle the line between culinary training and a more business-oriented approach. Like restaurant management, this field is all about making the experience of the guest positive from the first moment they arrive. Whether this means providing great accommodations, putting the guests in front of an exquisite meal, or planning an event they’ll never forget, hospitality management is customer service at its best.

As you go through your hospitality management course (either at the Bachelor or Master’s level), one class that is likely to come your way is lodging operations.

What are Lodging Operations?

Lodging operations is a leadership-oriented course that focuses on hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and resorts. It goes beyond simply teaching students how to set up reservations and organize large-scale customer service initiatives to include:

  • Marketing and branding concepts
  • Incorporating the culinary experience into the hospitality setting
  • Developing employee training programs
  • Implementing energy-saving innovations
  • Surviving in a competitive hospitality market
  • Everyday leadership opportunities

This broad scope of learning is ideal for students who are pursuing an advanced degree in hospitality management. After all, if it is your goal to seek high level work in the field, it’s important to have a strong basis of understanding for how to help a hospitality organization succeed. And in many cases, these same principles are applicable in a restaurant setting, as well, making it easy to switch between fields as your career advances.

The Lodging Operations Course

Depending on where you go to hospitality management school and the degree you’re pursuing, your exact course syllabus will vary. Overall, you can expect to make on-site visits or virtual field trips to successful hotel models, and you may even be eligible for an internship at one of these locations near the end of your education.

A degree in hospitality management is a great core for a future career in restaurants, hotels, resorts, and other similar settings. Lodging operations is just one part of the whole picture. In addition to culinary training, management courses, communication skills development, and technology training, it’s important to incorporate theory-based and logic-based courses like this one.

Related Topics:

Hotel Management as an Alternative to Becoming a Chef

Culinary Degree or Hospitality Management Degree

Find a Hospitality Management School in Your City

Hotel Management as an Alternative to Becoming a Chef


Published
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on July 24, 2010
in Hospitality Management
. 1 Comment

Hotel ManagementOne of the biggest challenges new culinary school graduates encounter is the job market. Although the restaurant and food service industry is expected to grow at a larger than national average, many of the open jobs are offered at a low- to minimum-wage and with a heavy competition to move up the ladder.

Fortunately, culinary training provides more than just one employment avenue. In addition to careers like food writers, food photographers, and restaurant owners, graduates might be able to find jobs in the hotel management field.

More and more hotels, motels, and bed & breakfast locations are offering an upscale dining experience and catered services as a way to boost their image and income. And professionals with culinary training – particularly if that training is matched by an Associate degree, Bachelor’s degree, or some business classes – have a good chance of getting these jobs.

What is Hotel Management?

Hotel management (or hospitality management, as it is also known) combines the culinary field and the business field in varying mixtures. The professionals who work in this field are the masterminds behind the facade that a hotel or other service-related company puts forward; from elaborate brunch spreads to making sure each guest feels as though he or she was treated well, hotel management is all about pleasing the customer – both from a culinary and a general comfort standpoint.

Some employers place a heavy emphasis on the management side of things, while others provide a more creative outlet in culinary opportunities.

For example, you might find yourself spending an entire day behind a desk, managing employees and providing customer service, or you might find yourself working with chefs to create a menu and run a safe and sanitary kitchen. Many individuals who work in this field find that they develop the skills necessary to start their own bed & breakfast or catering company someday, as well.

Chefs with a culinary degree and a head for business tend to be well suited for hotel management, and these jobs can be very rewarding. Not only is the average annual salary offered at around $45,000, but there tends to be more opportunity for personal advancement at the mid- to high-range management level.

How to Get Started in Hospitality Management

If you already have a culinary degree or a degree in hotel management, you should have a strong resume for the field, especially if you have a history in running a restaurant or kitchen. If you’re considering culinary school for the first time, you might want to look for a program that specializes in the hospitality trade as well as general cooking skills, since it is the combination of these two that can really give you a competitive edge.

Related Topics

Finding a Culinary School

Finding a Hospitality Management School

Salaries in the Culinary Industry

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on September 22, 2009
in Culinary Career
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Salaries in Culinary FieldMoney seems to be one of those topics that all culinary students want to know more about. How much does culinary school really cost? How much can I expect to make after culinary school graduation? Exactly how much money does Rachel Ray bring in every year?

These kids of questions are valid ones; after all, becoming a chef is a life-long dream for many people, and it’s important to know exactly what to expect in pursuing that dream. Although salaries in the culinary industry vary depending on where you live (for example, a job in New York is going to pay more than a job in Iowa, simply by virtue of cost-of-living) and what type of restaurant you’re in, there are a few averages that can help you in making a decision.

  • At one end of the spectrum are the line cooks and sous chefs, who make among the lowest incomes in the culinary industry. Entry-level positions begin at $18,000 a year and work up to $28,000, depending on whether or not you have a degree and/or experience in the kitchen.
  • Baking schools tend to be less popular than culinary schools, and the starting wages in this field reflect that. That’s because those who do the hiring (commercial baking kitchens and bakeries) don’t always have as many opportunities for career growth. Graduates can expect to make between $16,000 and $26,000 to start.
  • The field of hospitality management typically offers a higher starting wage, though it often requires an Associate or Bachelor’s degree prior to hire. Most professionals can expect to make between $25,000 and $45,000 for working either directly with the food or in a more general manager’s role. Career advancement in hospitality management tends to be higher than what you can find in a more traditional culinary role, with top hotel managers exceeding the $80,000 mark.
  • At the higher end of the spectrum are the Chefs and Pastry Chefs, who can pull anywhere from $30,000 to upwards of $60,000 per year, depending on how successful they are and where they work. For those interested in opening their own restaurants, the pay can range anywhere from a modest $40,000 to over $100,000 per year, though the amount of hours worked a day (at least in the beginning) can be grueling.

Of course, there are exceptions to any and all of these rules – and there are other benefits to take into consideration, as well. Many culinary professionals find that the creative license given at a smaller restaurant makes the lower pay acceptable, while others find the weekend and evening hours at a hotel are a great trade-off for a higher income.

GatewayGourmet.com’s New Culinary Education Blog

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on April 24, 2009
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Welcome to our new Culinary School and Cooking Education Blog.

Culinary School BlogGatewayGourmet.com is pleased to announce our new blog dedicated to everyone considering going to culinary school or thinking of entering the food industry. We will be posting informative articles and blog posts about the current culinary industry as well as how to find the right culinary school for your needs and avoid making costly mistakes.

Some of the topics we will be writing about at first are:

  • Is Culinary School Right for You?
  • Where the Top Celebrity Chefs Went to School
  • Competition for Culinary Schools
  • Vegetarian/Kosher Culinary Schools
  • Where the Best Culinary Schools are Located
  • Going Abroad for Culinary Training
  • How to Tell if Your Culinary School is Good
  • Unique Culinary Jobs
  • Culinary School Financial Aid Tips
  • Benefits of Classical French Training
  • The Truth about Culinary Student Loan Debt
  • A Day in the Life of a Chef

We expect this blog to be a useful guide to your culinary education and that you will participate by posting your questions and comments.  We also suggest you visit our main web site, www.gatewaygourmet.com, for our directory of top culinary schools listed by city and state.