Study Hospitality

Hospitality is the discipline responsible for managing and providing services related to accommodation and gastronomy to occasional clients. It is an activity closely related to tourism.

What is Hospitality about?

Hospitality is not only concerned with the management of a hotel, as its name would suggest, but with the management of various aspects concerning different services related to tourism. This may include gastronomy, event organization or the accommodation itself. There are also different types of places where these services are provided. Some of the possible hotel establishments are hotels, guesthouses, hostels, campsites, temporary rental apartments or bungalows, timeshares, etc.

Why study Hospitality?

Because it is an activity that is in a permanent state of growth and innovation. The great improvement in the international transport and communications system in recent years allows every city to have its own tourism industry and significant levels of visitors. Student exchange and the greater ease of organizing international conferences also help to encourage tourism and hotel activity.

What do you study in Hospitality?

This will depend on the guidance given in each course, bachelor's degree or postgraduate program, but it will basically include subjects such as Administration, Gastronomy, Hospitality Management, Marketing, Tourism Legislation, Tourism, Hygiene and Safety, Hotel Accounting, Languages, etc.

What tasks does a Hospitality specialist perform?

The tasks they will perform are really very varied, and, just to name a few, include the following:

• Design of tourism plans, together with companies in the sector.
• Management of specific areas of a hotel establishment, such as reception, purchasing departments, gastronomy, staff management, etc.
• Financial management of the hotel establishment.
• Consulting on investment projects for the construction of a hotel establishment.
• Consulting in public agencies or private organizations dedicated to developing public policies in the field of tourism.
• Teaching in the field of Hospitality (a discipline constantly growing in course offerings and with such high demand it requires a large number of educators).

What are the job prospects for a Hospitality specialist?

The graduate of a Hospitality degree will be able to perform their duties in the field of: Hotels, guesthouses, hostels, campgrounds, timeshares, temporary rental homes, tourist resorts, rural tourism establishments, tourism companies. Within each of these hotel establishment options they will be able to perform various functions, from those aimed at a specific sector, such as reception, to the general management of the establishment.

Advantages of studying Hospitality

Hotel establishment options are in a process of growth, both in their variety, and in their number in each region, and in their emergence in regions and cities where until recently there was no tourism activity.

The variety of roles you can perform greatly broadens your range of job opportunities.
Contact with people guarantees you permanent openness to new job options, apart from the personal satisfaction it inherently provides.
Hospitality is a field in which new techniques and innovations of all kinds constantly appear, so it is great motivation to avoid stagnation in professional training and stay alert regarding studies.

Disadvantages of studying Hospitality:

The fact of being one of the trendy “careers” makes the offering of courses and degrees very broad, so you must be very careful about the institutions you choose for your training.

Managing a hotel establishment is usually a very demanding job both in number of hours and in intensity.

The number of job options may mean it takes you some time to choose which sector to dedicate yourself to, and also until you start to stand out in it.

Where to study Hospitality?

Argentina: Universidad de Belgrano offers a Bachelor's Degree in Hospitality with a duration of 4 years and a Technical Degree in Hospitality and Tourism of 2 years. The Bachelor's Degree in Hotel Management from Universidad de Morón lasts 4 and a half years and a University Technical Degree in Hotel Management of 3 years. If you prefer distance learning, Universidad de Belgrano teaches its Technical Degree in Hospitality and Tourism, which lasts 2 years.
Chile: Universidad Austral de Chile teaches the degree in Tourism Business Administration, which lasts 5 years.

Spain: International School of Hospitality, Tourism & Languages offers a one-year program that includes an internship, and after which you will obtain the Higher National Diploma in Hotel Management and Tourism. Universidad Pablo de Olavide teaches the Postgraduate University Specialist in Hospitality Management and Direction, which lasts 9 months.

Mexico: Universidad del Valle de México offers two degrees: The International Bachelor's Degree in Hospitality Business Administration, which lasts 4 and a half years, and the Bachelor's Degree in Tourism Business Administration, with the same duration. At Universidad Anáhuac there is the Bachelor's Degree in International Hotel Management. The features and duration depend on the campus you go to.

Peru: The Universidad Alas Peruanas offers distance learning training in Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy, with a duration of 5 years divided into 10 academic semesters, with an average of 30 hours per week and 480 hours/semester.
The Universidad César Vallejo, in Lima offers Administration in Tourism and Hospitality in person.
The Universidad Andina "Nestor Cáceres Velásquez" in Puno - El Collao, offers the Master's in Hospitality and Gastronomy in person.
In Lima the Universidad Científica del Sur, offers in-person training in Sustainable Tourism Administration and hospitality.
In blended mode the Compañia Americana J&M offers the Diploma in Administration and strategic marketing in tourism and hospitality.
The Instituto Superior Tecnológico Privado Libertador, offers in Lima training in Tourism and Hotel Administration with a duration of 1 year.
The Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (Escuela de Postgrado) in Lima offers training in Hotel Direction and Management with a duration of 6 months.
The Universidad Católica de Santa María in Arequipa, offers in person, the Bachelor's Degree in Tourism and hospitality, with a duration of 5 years.
The Centro de Formación en Turismo, Cenfotur offers in LIma and Cuzco offers training in Hotel Administration, with a duration of 4 years and in person.

Uruguay: At the Instituto Técnico Hotelero del Uruguay you study to become a Hospitality Technician, a degree that lasts 2 years.

Fun Fact: One of the strangest hotels in the world is located in Luna Salada, in Bolivia. In the middle of the famous Uyuni salt flat you can sleep in a room made completely of salt. Not only the walls and floor, but also part of the furniture.