HOSPITALITY(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

About Hospitality

Hotels and other lodging places employ many different types of managers to direct and coordinate the activities of the front office, kitchen, dining room, and other departments, such as housekeeping, accounting, personnel, purchasing, publicity, sales, and maintenance. Managers make decisions on room rates, establish credit policy, and have ultimate responsibility for resolving problems. In small establishments, the manager also may perform much of the front-office clerical work. In the smallest establishments, the owners—sometimes a family team—do all the work necessary to operate the business.

Lodging managers or general and operations managers in large hotels often have several assistant managers, each responsible for a phase of operations. For example, food service managers oversee restaurants, lounges, and catering operations. Large hotels and conference centers also employ public relations and sales managers to promote their image and to attract business. Large hotels have many different sales managers, including convention managers, merchandise managers, foreign sales managers, and tour and agency managers. Sales managers often travel around the country selling their meeting, banquet, and convention facilities.

Traditionally, many hotels filled first-level manager positions by promoting administrative support and service workers—particularly those with good communication skills, a solid educational background, tact, loyalty, and a capacity to endure hard work and long hours. People with these qualities still advance to manager jobs but, more recently, lodging chains have primarily been hiring persons with 4-year college degrees in the liberal arts or other fields and starting them in trainee or junior management positions. Bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in hotel and restaurant management provide the strongest background for a career as a hotel manager, with nearly 150 colleges and universities offering such programs. Graduates of these programs are enthusiastically sought by employers in this industry. New graduates often go through on-the-job training programs before being given much responsibility. Eventually, they may advance to a top management position in a large chain operation.

Upper management positions, such as general manager, lodging manager, food service manager, or sales manager, generally require considerable formal training and job experience. Some department managers, such as comptrollers, purchasing managers, executive housekeepers, and executive chefs, generally require some specialized training and extensive on-the-job experience. To advance to positions with more responsibilities, managers frequently change employers or relocate to a chain property in another area.

Food service managers hire, train, supervise, and discharge workers in food services and drinking places establishments. They also purchase supplies, deal with vendors, keep records, and help whenever an extra hand is needed. Executive chefs oversee the kitchen, select the menu, train cooks and food preparation workers, and direct the preparation of food. In fine-dining establishments, maitre d's may serve as hosts or hostesses while overseeing the dining room. Larger establishments may employ general managers, as well as a number of assistant managers. Many managers are part owners of the establishments they manage.

Many managers of food services and drinking places obtain their positions through hard work and years of restaurant experience. Dining room workers, such as hosts and hostesses or waiters and waitresses, often are promoted to maitre d' or into managerial jobs. Many managers of fast-food restaurants advanced from the ranks of hourly workers. Managers with access to the necessary capital may even open their own franchises or independent restaurants.

Workers at vacation and recreational camps may include camp counselors who lead and instruct children and teenagers in outdoor-oriented forms of recreation, such as swimming, hiking, horseback riding, and camping. In addition, counselors at vacation and resident camps also provide guidance and supervise daily living and general socialization. Other types of campgrounds may employ trail guides for activities such as hiking, hunting, and fishing.


Occupation Highlights:

• Service occupations, by far the largest occupational group, account for 66 percent of the industry’s employment.
• Hotels employ many young workers and others in part-time and seasonal jobs.
• Average earnings are lower than in most other industries.
• Food services and drinking places provided many young people with their first jobs—in 2002, more than 22 percent of workers in these establishments were aged 16 to 19, almost 5 times the proportion for all industries.
• Cooks, waiters and waitresses, and combined food preparation and serving workers comprised more than half of industry employment.
• About 2 out of 5 employees worked part time, more than twice the proportion for all industries.
• Job opportunities will be plentiful because the large number of young and part-time workers in the industry will generate substantial replacement needs.

Earnings (Source: Occupational Outlook Handbook)

Salaries of lodging managers are dependent upon the size and sales volume of the establishment and their specific duties and responsibilities. Managers may earn bonuses ranging up to 20 percent of their basic salary. In addition, they and their families may be furnished with lodging, meals, parking, laundry, and other services. Some hotels offer profit-sharing plans, tuition reimbursement, and other benefits to their employees.

Additional Resources:

International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education
2613 North Parham Rd., 2nd floor
Richmond, VA 23294
www.chrie.org

National Restaurant Association
1200 17th St. NW.
Washington, DC 20036-3097
www.restaurant.org

American Culinary Federation
10 San Bartola Dr.
St. Augustine, FL 32086
www.acfchefs.org

Occupational Outlook Handbook
www.bls.gov/oco

Citation:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2004-05 Edition, Social and Human Service Assistants, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos059.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2004-05 Edition, Social Workers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos060.htm