Hotel Management Courses Focus on Speedy Entry Into the Field

The prospect of entering your chosen field after two semesters of post-secondary study is an exciting one and a reality for students who attend Centennial College’s hotel management program, officially known as Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Management. With a curriculum designed for mature students, this offering takes those with previous post-secondary credentials and/or work experience, and prepares them for careers in the accommodation, food and beverage sectors of the hospitality industry. It is a burgeoning industry, which in 2010, employed 1,086,000 people and generated revenues of almost $18.8-billion.

Centennial College’s fast-paced hotel management courses cover a wide range of areas that include:

Hotel and restaurant general management, human resources management, sales and marketing management, convention services management, cruise lines. Applicants to this hotel management program must possess a college diploma or university degree in hospitality, tourism or related discipline. They must also present a resume that demonstrates relevant work experience in the industry, as it may be a required part of the admission process. Please note that the hotel management program will consider applicants with a diploma or degree in unrelated disciplines who have related work experience. It will also consider applicants with partial post secondary education and relevant work experience in hospitality.

Based at Centennial College’s Progress Campus, this is one of Ontario’s most respected hotel management programs, as it offers its students facilities that ensure there is a balance of theory and practical application. Progress Campus is home to all of the college’s hospitality and tourism programs and, therefore, boasts modern computer labs, operational lab practice facilities, an on-site conference centre, and a full-service student-operated restaurant called Horizons. Within their hotel management courses, which are led by industry professionals, students study key management areas such as: finance, human resources, labour relations, oenology, international operations, leadership, entrepreneurship, security and risk, service quality, marketing and revenue management.

The hotel management courses and practical practice culminate in a two-day-per week industry placement for 15 weeks in semester two. This experience is an opportunity for students to not only apply what they have learned in class but also to enables students to better understand the dynamics of the industry, increase their knowledge of industry practices and provides a competitive advantage of experience in the job market. In the past, students who completed Centennial College’s hotel management courses have been hired by companies that include: Delta Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotel Group, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, and more.

Hotel Management Program Gets You Industry-Ready in Just One Year

If you’re looking to attend a hotel management program that not only prepares you for the industry but offers you a field placement that may result in positions with reputable companies such as Delta Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotel Group, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, and more, don’t look further than Centennial College’s Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Management offering. If your interest is one of the varied areas of tourism and hospitality such as hotel and restaurant general management, human resources management, sales and marketing management, convention services management, and cruise lines this offering will serve you well. In just one year, you can enter this industry, which brings in $18.8-billion in national accommodation revenue through 8,356 properties with 378,000 employees (as reported in 2008 by the Hotel Association of Canada).


First and foremost, to apply to Centennial College’s hotel management program, you must have finished a college diploma or university degree in hospitality, tourism or related discipline. In addition, you may apply if you have a partial post secondary education and relevant work experience in hospitality. Applicants who wish to attend the hotel management courses at Centennial must be prepared to present a resume with relevant work experience as it may be requested.


Once you are accepted, your short yet intensive time in the hotel management program will include key management areas such as: finance, human resources, labour relations, oenology, international operations, leadership, entrepreneurship, security and risk, service quality, marketing and revenue management. Specific hotel management courses in which you will partake include Hospitality Marketing Strategies (builds on basic marketing concepts to enable students to analyze and apply the principles of marketing through the integration of marketing variables with real-world situations and in-depth analysis of strategic marketing strategies); Hospitality Financial Management (focuses on the learner’s ability to use a variety of standard problem solving tools of financial management and budgetary control methods); Human Resources and Labour Relations Management (emphasis of the course is on every manager’s responsibility to manage human resources and staff reporting. Through the use of case studies and exercises, issues such as employee motivation, conflict resolution, performance management, labour relations and negotiations are covered); and more.


In addition to attending hotel management courses, students also use on-campus facilities such as modern computer labs, operational lab practice facilities, an on-site conference centre, and a full-service student-operated restaurant called Horizons for hands-on training. The hotel management program is rounded out with a two days per week industry placement for 15 weeks in semester two. The hotel management program field placement provides the student with meaningful work experience in approved jobs within the hospitality industry, enabling him or her to relate classroom theory to the practical world, while adding another career educational dimension to career preparation. Field placement also enables the student to better understand the dynamics of the industry, increase his or her knowledge of industry practices and provides a competitive advantage of experience in the job market.