Hospitality Administration Puts You In a Position of Influence in a Lucrative Industry

“At Centennial College, I was taught the ins and outs of the hospitality industry and was able to gain valuable experience through practical studies as well as a great deal of knowledge,” says Brittany Skene who graduated in June 2008 from the Hospitality Administration program. Skene’s education places her in an industry that sees revenues in excess of $61.4-billion from 60,000 different companies that employ more than 1.66-million Canadians. Having been pegged as the country’s second largest employment sector with 290,690 new jobs being created between 2006 and 2015, now is a great time to enter the tourism administration field.

At Centennial College, where Skene and other students spend three years in the Hospitality and Tourism Administration program, there are admission requirements that must be met in order to enter the undertaking. Students must present at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or equivalent or be 19 years of age or older. They must also possess compulsory English 12C or U or skills assessment, or equivalent.

Once they have been accepted, students experience a combination of academic study and practical hands-on learning in the form of a 15-week industry internship that occurs in their final semester. The Tourism Administration internship is designed to provide a practical foundation for a career in this field. Students work alongside professionals applying what they have leaned and gaining new knowledge. Leading up to their internship, students have access to many on-campus resources that enhance learning, including a full-service hospitality management centre, on-site conference centre and state-of-the-art computer labs. Covered within the program are a variety of business courses in marketing, human resources, industry operations and finance. Although they may seem general, these courses are taught to reflect skills and information needed for the hospitality administration and general hospitality and tourism field.

Once they successfully complete their Ontario College Advanced Diploma, graduates find work in hotel and restaurant general management, human resources management, sales and marketing management, convention services coordination and tour coordination. Of course, each option entails different tasks. Let’s take a look at two of them.

A hotel marketing manager seeks creative ways to launch a hotel into the public eye in order to boost room rentals and productivity. In order to do this, the professional works with the hotel’s advertising and sales managers to promote services and amenities. Also, marketing managers learn what travelers want and estimate the cost of those services. On the other hand, hotel managers play an active role onsite, leading hotel personnel and managers of various departments. They also act as liaisons between hotel guests and staff and may be called on to solve disputes. Lastly, hotel managers may oversee the daily fiscal workings of the facility.