Hotel, Hospitality & Cruiseship Mgmt

Hotel & Hospitality management and Cruise ship Management Training Objectives

If you intend to climb the career ladder in hospitality management, you first need to establish a hospitality management meaning. Or to put it another way, a broad definition of what hospitality management is and why it exists.

Roughly defined, hospitality management refers to the application of management concepts and structured leadership in the areas of accommodation, dining and general guest services. From the largest hotels to the smallest cafeterias, all such businesses form an important part of the hospitalityindustry.

Whereas commercial businesses focus primarily on selling products, it could be said that hospitality is more about selling services, experiences and enjoyment. In key markets worldwide, the travel and tourism sector is one of the largest, most lucrative and fastest growing. The sheer scope and diversity of the hospitality sector is extraordinary, incorporatingeverything from major international hotel chains to local restaurants tovehicle rental services and many more besides.

As for hospitality management, the term refers to an extensive range of functions and responsibilities that ensure the best possible guest experience. Human resource management, marketing management, accountancy and financial management, PR and reputation management - all fall within the confines of hospitality management.

With the industry being so diverse, hospitality management meaning, functions and objectives vary significantly from one business to the next. However, the primary goal of hospitality management remains the same - to ensure each and every guest enjoys the same flawless experience from start tofinish.

Diploma in Hotel, Hospitality & Cruise Ship Management

The course is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed for a successful career in the hospitality operations part of a cruise, as well as providing an essential understanding of elements relating to life and work on a cruise ship. In addition to being introduced to the wider world of the cruise industry, its history, players, customers, regulations, concerns such as safety, security, professionalism etc., students will be studying specialist operational elements such as front office, customer service, effective communication, essential information technology skillsetc.

Students who then continue to the Hospitality and Cruise Ship Management Diploma course will enhance their knowledge of the business and management of ocean cruises and operational issues involved, but also approach wider managerial issues such as personnel management, organisationalbehaviour, research methods etc. at an advanced level.

The course, headed by an experienced and accomplished professional in hospitality operations on cruise ships will also include guest lectures by cruise industry professionals and student visits to cruise ships in order toensure an engaging delivery of the latest knowledge and issues in this exciting field.

After completing six months' study (Semester 1) you will be given the opportunity to gain insight and confidence in the hospitality industry by completing a period of industry placement at a 5 -star hotel.

Area of work

As indicated by the name, hotel management focuses exclusively on the provision of accommodation and related guest services, within a hotel establishment. By contrast, hospitality management could apply to a supervisory role in a much wider variety of business areas - restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, casinos and soon.

Responsibilities

In a typical hospitality setting, the guest may spend an hour or two in your company. In a hotel, you may look after any given guest for days, weeks or even months on end. Hence, the latter calls for a considerably different approach to management and service provision. Many of the day-to-day responsibilities in hotels and general hospitality settings are similar, but running a hotel isn’t nearly the same as running a casual restaurant oreatery.

Employment sectors

If you have a background in hospitality management, this can be used tobuild a rewarding career in almost any area of hospitality - including hotel management. If you exclusively focus on hotel management, you may find your career options more limited to the global accommodation and general travel and tourismsectors.

Aim

The aim of the course is to prepare students for employment in the international cruise shipindustry.

The necessary practical skills are developed early in the programme toensure that students are able to operate quickly and competently within a cruise ship hospitality environment. Management compete nciesare developed throughout the programme to provide the tools for assuming greater unit and people responsibility overtime.

Learning Outcomes

On the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
  • Use technical and inter-personal skills and knowledge to propose and evaluate practical and theoretical solutions to complex problems in the core areas of cruise ship hotel operations management.
  • Apply principles and practices of hotelmanagement.
  • Identify and respond appropriately to the diversity that prevails within the cruise ship industry in relation toits stakeholders.
  • Evaluate and apply within the hotel management context, appropriate theories and concepts from generic management areas, e.g. managing people, hospitality operations management, managing business performance and businesscommunication.
  • Analyseand evaluate the defining characteristics of cruise ship hospitality as a phenomenon, e.g. the different cultural aspects of hospitality.
  • Analyseand evaluate the impact of international tourism on the cruise ship industry, and hospitality operations management inparticular.

Eligibility for cruise jobs

The very basic qualification is a diploma from a catering college and 1 -2 years experience in the hotel industry (preferably in a 5-star hotel). For kitchen positions, you need to have experience in a continental kitchen (hot or cold). Most cruise line jobs, especially in the hotel department,areforthosebelow30yearsofage.Youalsoneedtobefluentin English and able to communicate effectively. Other basic requirements are that you need to be healthy and fit to manage the long hours on your feet.

You also need to have a strong sense of personal hygiene and grooming – long hair is discouraged due to strict hygiene standards maintained on cruise ships, and so are visible tattoos and piercings (excepting ear lobes).

To help you succeed in your job, remember
  • Attitude iseverything!
  • Stay motivated to work hard to get success.
  • Be an extrovert enjoy working with people as you will be interacting with people of many nationalities, round theclock.
  • Be a team player – you will realize that the enormous cruise ship operations runs like a smooth machine only through discipline and cooperation.

Be adaptable and accommodating to new experiences that come with working in such a different environment than the one you are used to.