This is from HVS Global Hospitality Services LinkedIn Group. Thread started by Jose Ruy Veloso, Independent Senior Consultant based in Brazil. Now-a-days is it really necessary to be graduated in Hotel Business Management to be part of the hotel industry? Hotel Business courses still makes sense or any bachelors could be good hotel manager? Click here to access the actual thread on linkedin.com.

Jan Atkins • Realistically you get to first base more quickly by going through the College Channels that specialize in hotel administration. The connections one makes at Cornell or NYU and other noted universities make for a strong network throughout one's career. However, one can name several icons in the hotel industry who have made it up the ladder to the top by way of bell boy, pleasing personality and being a numbers cruncher.

Kashif Mughal • A hotel business management degree definitely opens the door, but a lodging facility is nevertheless a business operation therefore a business administration degree together with hands-on experience of working in the industry will also suffice. Majority of hospitality executives I know graduated with degrees other than hospitality management.

Cyril Lanrezac • The hotel industry represents so much jobs diversity that it all depends what career sector is being aimed. For hotel manager it also depends the degree of centralization of the company. An MBA in Hospitality Management is definitively an added value in term of knowledge: Financial Mgt, Asset Mgt, Revenue Mgt, E-commerce, Project development, Strategic dimension,..... Even if it is the individuality that makes the difference, networking from schools such as Cornell, Essec, Lausanne is also an added value.

Tome de Souza • Education in any field does bring excellent results provided it fulfils the core condition "to serve and not to be served". I am hotelier myself in finance and have seen great results even from a bare educated person receiving tremendous recognition from guest for the only reason "he operated with love and affection towards his service and the policies and procedures that guide them".
This has been my embossed slogan in my heart that makes me joyful to shout aloud "I am hotelier to serve and I praise my God for this gift".

Daniel Stein • In my humble opinion, a degree such as this is helpful, however is nowhere near what you will ever receive from real experience. I have intereviewed candidates with degrees from Johnson and Wales and Cornell both who have had no idea what Revenue Management or ADR truly means, not to mention many other very important areas that I need for my managers to know and understand. In addition I have had people I have had working for me with MBA's and CPA's but no hotel background, tiring to train them to get them where they need to be.......just my two cents worth!

Jose Ruy Veloso • Thank you all. Good refletions to the students that have to think deep about their choise for hotel industry.

Musa Aydin Eker • I do not believe that any hotel degree can teach everything about an hotel business. However, college degree and MBA are necessary skills for executive level management positions. If person`s goal is being a restaurant supervisor, degree would not be necessary, but if one wants to be GM, degree and MBA are must be done.

Jatinder Kapur • Management Development Programs are all it can take for a basic Hotel management degree holder to sail till the GM sea shore. At that stage it is wise to do a MBA if one wants to excel as a VP, CEO, Director as one has to take Strategic , Risk taking, Planning, HR, Financial decisions. It helps in revolutionizing Hospitality Marketing, Branding and conducting market research.

Avinash Bhatia • Hotel Degree is not a must but having it helps more importantly the inner acceptance of working for the hospitality industry is what is more important than the degree itself because one cannot act the service the guests now a days can analyse that.This is what i think.

Ram Gupta • It seems that the ages old misconception about hotel industry persists despite the fact that we are in the so-called age of specialization, the 21st century. All trades and professions have their basics derived from common sense, but professionalism and perfectionism demands professional and specific knowledge of that particular industry. This holds true for hotels also, areas in a hotel like the Food & Beverage, service marketing, revenue management, food production, to name a few require technical knowledge. Hotels have a very different business dynamics derived from the nature of its product, which, as we all know is highly perishable, no shelf life unlike consumer durables or FMCG items. It is from this angle that most chains prefer qualified hospitality graduates.

Franco Pedone • In my opinion, a degree is not necessary but helpful. I did notice though that the Hotel industry is more accepting of other degrees while when a hotel person tries to enter another industry not much value is given to his degree or experience. I don't believe our management skills are understood and appreciated. We seem to carry the stigma of being experienced waiters or desk agents rather than the hard working, expert managers that need to balance customer service, revenues, and costs in a very competitive industry where customers have higher expectations. This I see true especially in Europe. Thank you all for your comments which I read with interest.

Ram Gupta • Hi Franco, even in other professions say medical, engineering, IT and so on, before the person occupies the chair of the manager, he/she has to go through the grill of roughing it out. A manager and a successful and efffective manager must know the functions and tasks at the bottom of the pyramid. So what if the hotel manager starts as a waier or a bus boy?

Jose Ruy Veloso • All right, people. Good reflections! But I think that is more difficult for a degree in hotel business to be acept for a job in another field than, for instance, an engineer to be accepted as Hotel General Manager. The market seems biased with courses in hospitality. It may just be a wrong impression?

Franco Pedone • Jose, I agree with your comment. Ram I was not fully understood... there is nothing wrong in starting as a line employee, I know I did many line tasks even though I have a degree. I agree with you that they must be done....what I am saying is that other fields, because we do these line jobs, don't give us the credit for. That's all I am saying.

Jatinder Kapur • I agree Franco you have a point. Hotel Industry managers have the talent of operating at the highest standards with giving Customer Delight in every moment of truth selling the most perishable commodity on earth in the given resources and manpower with focus on cost control and profitability. Basically u are an excellent Superman at that and if other service industries don't grab them it's their loss. Every hospitality professional I know has excelled in the allied service industries. Would be better to merge managerial skills more in the graduate hotel management programs and hotels to carry out management development programs and certifications through AHLA.

Nguyen Nga • This is the first time i join with topics and i think for me, i'm not really the manager as all of you but with my opinion is you no need to graduate in hotel business management but it's necessary when you want to get a higher position , and it will be the helpful tool to help you understand more about business. But the most important in hotel industry is the passion in job and you must to the person love learning because in the real experience will help you get more knowledge

Jose Ruy Veloso • You are right, Nga. For any occupation, we need some passion, otherwise, things will be make without colors, without love. But, anyway my point is understand the universe of jobs to the people that takes a degree in Hotel Business Administration. In fact, are the hotels loooking for them?

Nguyen Nga • In fact, the hotels always looking for the people who graduated in hotel business Universities and they're easier to get the job more than the person without degree but almost of student without experience doesn't work as good as the person have experience and with the person who work before learning will get more successful in there job because they understand what they do.For me, i'm respect the person who start with 0 point in hotel industry but they got their successful by themself by learning than the person graduated in university because they can't understand their staff

Tome de Souza • I always carry this written piece of paper which has the golden words by William Arthur Ward. It does bring smile everytime I read.
The Mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates
The great teacher inspires
Unfortunately our greed in sucess has brought us so low that even though we acquire the best from the Hotel Management Universities we fail to share it down the line to the less fortunate who have the greatest potential/expertise and love/passion for their work and service.Its the way of life in this world however our own demonstration can make the difference.

Mark Fancourt • Put simply, both are required. The classroom will only get you so far. Then employers will want to see the application of your theoretical knowledge in the work place, in a manner that has translated into value for the organisations you have contributed too. Many of the captains of our industry today grew through a different system and the 'apprenticeship' of industry knowledge, experience and progression. Later on they took on formal studies. The modern world makes available a plethora of coursework that are directly focused on the industry, and in my experience this will refresh you and remind you of concepts that often can be overlooked in the daily work life. It did not used to be a requirement to be graduated to enter the industry, and this has not changed today. The industry is constantly in a position of search for capable people in an ever increasing competitive talent marketplace. This dictates the employment processes and selection practises. Another factor that should be considered is the nature of hotels and the industry in general. A hotel is a small town in terms of roles and functions, and there are many required skillsets that are not referenced in hotel management courseware. Hospitality is 80% attitude and you can't get that in the classroom.

Jatinder Kapur • I agree Mark !!! Only make that 100 % Attitude in hotel operations !!! The rest is icing on the cake !!! Certainly modern management and market research, operations research, project management, strategic management, revenue management at top management level and senior management level are skill sets the fundamentals of which could be learnt in a management school or honed under experts in a management development program !!!