At its most basic, "Hospitality is the business of managing hotels, food service, travel and tourism, entertainment, and people," and the number and range of courses required of its practitioners are far greater than most people imagine ( www.bu.edu ). Indeed, the field is one in which an understanding of computer systems, mathematics, accounting, human resources, finances, and even a bit of organizational psychology, are all necessary for the successful completion of the work. Because of this, and because of the challenges faced everyday by hospitality professionals, there are few more exciting or rewarding fields out there today.

Find Hospitality Programs

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• Food Service Management
• Financial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry
• Hospitality Law
• Hospitality Marketing
• Hospitality Technology and Computer Applications
• Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry
• Finance for the Hospitality Industry
• Food and Beverage Management
• International Hospitality

Types Of Associate, Undergraduate & Graduate Programs Available
An associate's degree in hospitality will prepare you for a rewarding career in the hospitality industry. You may work in supervisory roles or managerial roles, and while an associate's degree may not prepare you for higher-level jobs in the industry, it will certainly set you on the right path. A bachelor's degree affords you the opportunity to understand all aspects of the field, from the financial to the organizational, as well as an opportunity to begin specializing in a particular aspect of it. Among graduate degrees, the most popular is the Master's, which will provide you with an in-depth understanding of the ways in which the business works, and which will also likely set you on the path toward a career in higher-level management and planning.

Typical Admissions Requirements
You don't necessarily need an academic background in hospitality in order to go back to school to pursue a degree. In fact, as long as you have an interest in the field and a desire to help people, you will likely find a program that is right for you. It is important to note, however, that if you have not taken certain math or accounting courses, for example, you may have to take them in addition to the coursework that is part of the regular curriculum. However, it should not prevent you from pursuing the degree. Also, you may find it useful to have some experience in the field, but this, too, is far from a pre-requisite. It merely may be a good way to understand whether or not the field is right for you. But as with many fields of study, enthusiasm and a desire to succeed are often all you need to make a positive academic and professional impact.

Careers In This Field
Because of the many aspects of the hospitality industry, there are seemingly infinite careers that graduates can pursue. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Management
• Resort operations
• Marketing
• Sales
• Property management
• Restaurant operations.
• General manager
• Food & beverage directors
• Front office manager
• Marketing manager
• Conference planner
• Human resource manager

Salary Ranges In This Field
"The average salary for a general manager of a lodging property in the United States is nearly $65,000, according to a compensation survey [ from 2002]·by Smith Travel Research and the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. [Also]:

• The national average for bonuses for general manager is $10,289.
• The bigger the hotel, the higher the salary for general managers. Hotels with more than 200 guestrooms have an average salary of $98,001 plus an average bonus of $18,180. Meanwhile, general managers of hotels with fewer than 80 guest-rooms earn an average salary of $41,569 plus an average bonus of $5,376.
• General managers at resort properties earn an average salary of $88,372 plus an average bonus of $16,308. Other sectors: urban ($74,964 salary plus $13,624 bonus); airport ($69,847 salary plus $11,615 bonus); suburban ($64,263 salary plus $9,982 bonus); and highway ($51,123 salary plus $6,591 bonus).
• General managers at upper-upscale properties earn an average salary of $101,995 plus an average bonus of $19,009. Other segments: upscale ($ 65,098 salary plus $9,366 bonus); midscale with food-and-beverage ($61,631 salary plus $8,885 bonus); midscale without food-and-beverage ($ 42,580 salary plus $5,948 bonus); economy ($43,014 salary plus $4,570 bonus); and independent ($64,135 salary plus $10,796 bonus).
• General managers in the Middle Atlantic region earn an average salary of $78,528 plus an annual bonus of $12,723. Other top regions include Pacific ($73,589 salary plus $12,151 bonus) and New England ($69,075 salary plus $10,450 bonus). At the bottom end of the scale are the East South Central ($54,827 salary plus $8,535 bonus) and West North Central ($54,495 salary plus $7,692 bonus) regions.
• The national average salary for front-office clerks is $18,449. Front-office clerks at upscale properties top that job title ($19,667). They are followed by the independent ($19,380), upper-upscale ($18,997), midscale with food-and-beverage ($18,235), economy ($17,492) and midscale without food-and-beverage ($17,312) segments.
• The national average salary for executive housekeepers is $29,639. Executive housekeepers at upper-upscale properties lead the average salary department at $41,710. The other segments: upscale ($30,153), independent ($29,273), midscale with food-and-beverage ($26,916), economy ($22,066) and midscale without food-and-beverage ($21,689)." ( www.hotelmotel.com )

Future Outlook
Because of the ever-more globalized economy, and the fact that travel is an increasingly common part of business, the outlook for the hospitality industry is rather positive. Though unforeseen events like terrorist attacks will have an adverse effect on the industry, the overall picture is quite positive. For a more complete accounting of the outlook, go to http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2004_4th/ Dec04_ButlerOutlook.html . The discussion on this page is not only instructive, but interesting, too.

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