Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

24 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO HOTEL MANAGEMENTto see the places that they have read about. Cultural pursuits—art, theater, music, opera,ballet, and museums—can attract a constant flow of people into an area. Sports andnature attract travelers who want to enjoy the great outdoors as well as those who preferto watch their favorite teams. The push for lifelong learning has provided an incentivefor many to take personal development/enrichment courses, whether to update professionalskills or to increase knowledge of a particular hobby. Ecotourists, tourists whoplan vacations to study the culture and environment of a particular area, want to enjoynature in its unblemished and unsullied form.Career DevelopmentAn introductory chapter in hotel management would not be complete without attentionto career development. Those who are planning a career in the hotel industry need toreview the fundamentals of career development, which revolve around five very importantconcepts: educational preparation, practical experience, membership in professional organizations,ports of entry, and growth areas for the industry.Educational PreparationAs you enter the twenty-first century, the educational base you build now will serveyou well. The classes you are taking in your major course of study—including managementand supervision, cost control, human resources management, quantity food production,hotel management, purchasing, sanitation, layout and design, accounting, andmarketing—will build a strong foundation for your continued development of technicalskills. Courses outside your major—such as English, speech communication, computertraining, arts, economics, psychology, sociology, nutrition, science, and math—will helpdevelop the skills you need to cope in the professional world. The formal education youreceive in your classroom study will be enhanced by extracurricular activities such asclubs, student government, sports, and other areas of special interest. These activities area microcosm of the environment in which you will apply your technical, liberal arts, andscience courses. Clubs associated with your major in particular allow you to apply theoreticalconcepts learned in class to a real-life business environment.Your educational experience will open the door to your career. You must apply yourskills and knowledge after graduation to be an effective, successful employee in the hotelindustry. Use your degree as a starting point for an exciting career in hospitality.The educational experience you are now obtaining must be nurtured beyond graduationday. There are many opportunities for in-service education, which include coursesthat update a professional’s educational background for use in current practice; these areoffered by such groups as professional organizations, sponsors of trade shows, communitycolleges and universities, technical schools, correspondence schools, trade journals,TLFeBOOK