University subject profile: hospitality, event management and tourism
What you’ll study
Whether you dream of helping to organise a major national event such as the Olympic Games, or working as a jet-setting wedding planner, a degree in hospitality, event management and tourism could help get you there.
Courses in this field teach you about event-bidding, finance and accounting, project management and much more. Hospitality, events and tourism students often sit within one department and, understandably, gain many of the same professional skills.
Hospitality students tend to focus more specifically on the running of hotels, restaurants, catering businesses and events. They have lectures on quality control, the latest food and drink, front of house and housekeeping skills. On event-management courses, an emphasis is placed on the broader picture: how do you plan, promote and run events? And the term “events” is incredibly diverse, including anything from a small wedding to a big corporate meeting or the Super Bowl.
Tourism students will learn all about how to manage the movement of people around the planet, and think about what the economic, environmental and social impacts of this movement are. Our national heritage – forests, coastlines and culture – is affected by tourism, and needs to be managed by professionals who understand who travels, how they travel and why they travel. And when natural and man-made disasters strike, tourism professionals need to know how to respond and how to help companies and destinations recover.
All three courses will produce entrepreneurial graduates capable of setting up their own businesses. Hospitality, events and tourism are industries that require graduates with maturity and great decision-making skills.
How you’ll learn
You’ll learn through lectures, seminars and workshops. Good courses will contain a strong element of professional skills: IT skills, time management and how to communicate in business. You will learn to plan events, assess developments, market companies and develop businesses. Numeracy skills as well as an ability to work as part of a team, are essential. A core feature of the best programmes include an extended period of work placement in industry – you could find yourself work on major conference events or work abroad as part of your course.
What are the entry requirements?
Entry requirements vary, so it’s best to check with each university. Most will expect English and maths GCSE at grade C or above.
What job can I get?
Graduates might work as a hotel, restaurant or catering manager. Events specialists might work as events consultants, events managers, operations managers or venue marketing coordinators.
For tourism graduates, the most obvious career path is becoming a tour operator, where they might be responsible for recruiting overseas reps or any aspect of operations. Graduates may move into head office and become responsible for marketing, contracting, human resources, or planning and design. Looking more broadly at the jobs market, there are opportunities in consultancy, local economic development, real estate, visitor attraction management, cruise, journalism and PR.