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The hotel industry is expanding tremendously and has become highly professionalized. Hotel management involves a combination of many skills: general management, food and beverage service, housekeeping, sales and marketing, food and beverage service, housekeeping, sales and marketing, personnel management, front office operations, public relations, accounting and bookkeeping, etc.-to suit individual skills and qualities. The front office is at the centre of activities of a hotel. It keeps a record of bookings, acts as the general information desk,. Checks in guests, processes their checking out, helps guests with necessary information, assists in transaction of money , etc. The food and beverage department deals with overall servicing of the kitchen, specializing in different types of cuisine, looking after the arrangement for dining has, restaurants, bar, etc. Housekeeping involves overseeing the general appearance of all rooms, checking for cleanliness and comfort, supervision of domestic staff, arranging wok schedules, running of room service and so on. The accounts, security and maintenance departments are manned by specialists in these areas-chartered accountants, security personnel and engineers and technical staff, respectively. The work atmosphere in ever department of a hotel is vibrant with life. Everyone has to be on his/her toes all the time and amidst the bustle of hectic activity, tempers, have to be kept under check while guests are looked after with a smile. A friendly, helpful, outgoing personality; ability to take responsibility and to work well with others; interest in people of all backgrounds; creativity; flair; tact; a methodical approach; organizing and administrative ability; a certain amount of manual dexterity and visual imagination; physical stamina and good health to withstand irregular hours of work; the sort of temperament which remains unruffled in inevitable crises; a good memory for faces as visitors appreciate recognition; considerable self-confidence; an eye for detail; practicality; the will to please people, however unreasonable their demands may seem; and exceptional ability to handle and train staff.
Hotel management courses are usually of three-year duration leading to the grant of a diploma/degree. The syllabus covers administration and organization of the industry, personnel and organizational behavior, knowledge of a foreign language, economics, principles of management, applied science, front office operations, relevant law and general aspects of tourism and hotel business, food and beverage service, staff management and organization, housekeeping, basics of cookery covering Indian, Continental, Chinese, French, Mexican and other varieties of cuisine, accounts and bookkeeping, sales and marketing, computer applications and engineering(hotel). The Department of Tourism has set up the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) Pusa, New Delhi, to focus on the need for training professionals for the hospitality industry. NCHMCT conducts the joint entrance examination for admission to the first year of the three-year diploma course in hotel management and catering technology at the 17 government-sponsored Institutes of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Gurdaspur, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Jaipur , Lucknow, Madras, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuam. The entrance examination is of the objective type (written) testing the ability of candidates in reasoning and logical deduction, numerical ability, scientific aptitude and English. On the basis of performance in the written examination, candidates are called for a personal interview. The applicants should have completed the plus two or equivalent examination successfully in any academic or vocational stream with English as a compulsory subject. The hotel management courses at all institutes offer a blend of theoretical and practical training. Students are given hands-on training in the running of a hotel so that they can apply their theoretical learning to real-life situations and learn how to improvise and adapt. A host of institutes offering hotel management courses have mushroomed recently. It is necessary to carefully assess an institute before joining with respect to faculty, infrastructure, and its link with the industry for placements. The basic minimum requirements for setting up a hotel management institute are an area of about 40,000 sq. feet, an investment of Rs. 6 crores and a hotel attached. Even the established institutes barely have these facilities, so care has to be taken while approaching a new institute. The hotel management institutes in the private sector conduct separate admission tests, mostly of the objective type. After the written examination many of them conduct group discussions and interviews as part of the selection process. They give more importance to personality and individual characteristics in the selection process.
The employment rate of students graduating from the established institutes of hotel management is cent per cent. They join hotels through campus interviews. Some of them also join the railways, airlines, shipping lines in their catering services, or the defence sector. The industrial canteens absorb about 10 per cent of the hotel management professionals. A few proceed to pursue postgraduate studies in hotel management and opt for teaching jobs. Hospitals and other institutions also engage hotel management professionals. The emoluments vary between the different organizations that employ them. Minimum monthly emoluments are approximately Rs.4500. Career mobility is very fast in the hotel industry for dynamic, energetic and diplomatic professionals. Movements up the organizational hierarchy are purely merit-based. Many professionals set up their own catering and hospitality establishments after working in an organization for some time and these ventures are doing well. As a shortage of trained manpower for the hotel industry exists, placements are assured for hotel management diploma/degree holders. The type of placement depends on the calibre of a person and the reputation of the institute he/she has graduated from.
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