What Can You Do with a Hospitality Management Degree?

Hospitality is defined, in part, as "the activity or business of providing services to guests." By default, this means that it encompasses a variety of sectors and subsectors engaged in the guest service business.

The International Trade Administration adds that the top three subsectors—which, combined, account for more than 45 percent of all hospitality-related services—are accommodations, air travel, and food services. Together, these bring in roughly $785 billion per year and create approximately 6.3 million jobs.

If you want to know what you can do with a hospitality management degree and how it can helpd you land one of these positions, here are a few career tracks to consider.

Hotel Manager

Hotel managers are responsible for making a guest's stay as pleasant and as comfortable as possible. This involves managing staff tasked with front desk operations, cleaning and housekeeping, grounds maintenance, and other key tasks. Individuals in this role typically also assist with budgeting, setting room rates, resolving employee issues, and handling guests' needs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) categorizes hotel managers as lodging managers and indicates that the median pay for this role is $53,390 per year. Additionally, the number of lodging manager jobs are expected to increase four percent by the year 2026, which means the addition of 1,900 new jobs.

Resort Manager

Another way to work in accommodations is to manage a resort instead. In this role, you can expect to oversee all of the resort's operations and requires that you work directly with staff, vendors, and guests. As a resort manager, you are also responsible for handling the facility's site security and finances.

PayScale indicates that the average salary for resort managers is $47,884 per year. However, this amount depends on location of resort, as well as your level of education and experience.

Restaurant Manager

Restaurant managers spend their days making sure their eating establishment is running as efficiently and as profitably as possible. Typical job responsibilities of a restaurant manager include recruiting and training kitchen and wait staff, planning menus, marketing, and handling customer inquiries and complaints. This role also involves ordering supplies, managing the budget, and handling administrative paperwork.

The BLS reports that this particular hospitality subsector has a slightly higher growth rate than accommodations, coming in at nine percent, or 27,600 additional jobs by the year 2026. Median pay for these types of roles, which the BLS refers to as food service managers, is $54,240 per year.

Event Planner

You can also use your bachelor's degree in hospitality to help individuals and businesses plan events. This is a great option for those who are all about the details since this role involves looking at everything from the venue to the food to the entertainment to the decorations. All of this requires meeting with vendors and securing quotes, in addition to overseeing the big day.

Meeting, convention, and event planners earn approximately $49,370 per year, according to the BLS and this subsector is anticipated to grow by 11 percent, a rate that is "faster than average" and will result in approximately 12,700 additional jobs.

Amusement Park Manager

If you'd like a management job that involves giving guests a more adrenaline-filled experience, you can also use your hospitality management bachelor's degree to become an amusement park manager. In this role, you would be responsible for things such as maintenance of the rides, ensuring park cleanliness, and maximizing customer revenues.

The average salary for amusement park managers in the U.S. is $60,783 per year, according to Salary.com. Though, as with the others, this amount will vary based on your education, other skills, and years of experience.

Saint Leo Offers Two Hospitality Management Degree Options

If any of these are of interest to you, Saint Leo University currently offers two hospitality management options.

The first is a minor in Hospitality Management program which involves earning 15-credit hours of instruction in areas such as guest services, human resources, restaurants, lodging, private resorts, and more.

The second option is a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in International Tourism and Hospitality Management. This is a 36-credit hour program that includes Hospitality Management specialization courses like Guest Service Management and Meetings and Events Management. It also offers students the opportunity to take a variety of elective courses, some of which include Traveling the World for Fun & Profit and Heritage Tourism.

Hospitality is a great career. Now all you have to do is pick the track for you.

Students earning a BA in International Tourism and Hospitality Management can also take classes directed toward certain areas of the world, which may include the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe, as well as Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East.