The world we live in today is changing. It’s evolving faster than ever before. It’s connecting us in new ways. It’s unifying the world and communities across it. Borders and walls are dissolving, replaced instead with carefully thought out campaigns enticing visitors into countries that had shut themselves off from the world barely two generations ago. Across the globe, customer service is helping determine our consumer habits – with a single experience having the power to create a lifelong association between customer and brand. Whether we’re travelling, visiting our local bank, shopping, dining out at a favourite restaurant, going on a weekend getaway, attending a wedding or even test driving a car we’ve finally decided to treat ourselves to – we’re all engaging with the world of hospitality. Our world today is built on interactions and service – and where knowing the right formula can transform small companies into global powerhouses or take professionals to the summits of their career. We’re all living a world that’s run on hospitality – whether we realise it or not.With today’s technological advancements, tourism & travel, hospitality and other sister streams are taking over the global landscape in new and unexpected ways, creating opportunities and ideas that would have found it hard to exist just a few decades ago. Technology has completely changed our lives, while enabling other industries to intertwine into our everyday existence. Our society and consumer expectations are no longer just about the product – the service surrounding it has become just as important as the product itself, with the knowledge of having the right formula on delivering an authentic, enjoyable and personalised experience a key factor for companies and corporations the entire world over. Delivering the right experience to consumers has now become crucial – and professionals who know how to do so are absolutely indispensable. Get info on sideeffects.com
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, travel & tourism (the overarching umbrella under which many hospitality related fields fall under) is set to outperform the global economy yet again this year – for the sixth year in a row. Contributing to just over 10% of the entire world’s GDP, the travel and tourism umbrella is also responsible for providing an astounding 1 in 10 jobs across the globe – or 300 million jobs worldwide. Across the next decade, the industry is predicted to outperform other heavyweights in their fields, including communications, finance and business, and even manufacturing and retail. Behind the glossy façade, innovation and technological advancements are still happening at a rapid, unstoppable pace, as the industry is constantly working towards new solutions to redefine and elevate the customer experience, using technology to transform the way we interact with the world, and create a stronger, more personalised connection between consumers and the brands that cater to them. The wheels of change have been set into motion, and the industry needs the talent to help fuel and set the further course of this evolution.
With a landscape that seems so vast, it begs the question of how to enter in the first place. And while our lives are full of unpredictable twists and turns – after all, we do live in a world where doctors turn into actors and more – choosing to pursue an education in hospitality is the best springboard you can get to enter the industry at a senior level. And when it comes to preparing graduates for a landscape that’s as kaleidoscopic as hospitality, the education intended must match up in order to be successful. Hospitality and other service delivering sectors are fluid and not what you could call great examples of routine. New challenges can arise every day, with new and unexpected factors to be encountered at almost every turn due to the strongly human aspect of the job. A set of rules or actions won’t cover even a fraction of possible scenarios in these industries – not to mention the possibility of becoming outdated in the blink of an eye with rapid evolution of our society. Which is exactly why hospitality education, with the intention of preparing successful, future-proof and flexible talent for the world, is an education that stays with you for life. A good hospitality education is focused on developing critical thinking, problem solving capabilities, excellent communication skills, a sense of leadership, ambition and an unrelenting entrepreneurial drive. Students are provided a master-key for their future career, and a foundation on which they learn how to imbibe new skills and knowledge as they grow professionally. This holistic approach to nurturing students’ capabilities is exactly why hospitality graduates go on to enjoy the freedom of exploring numerous industries – their education prepared them with a foundation that is tailor-made for the professional landscape we are living in today and anticipate tomorrow. It’s not an education that just teaches you to connect the dots – it’s a journey that gives you a grasp of the bigger picture, and enables you to connect them in better, faster and more creative ways. Our world is run on innovation – and the industries of today need adaptable and inspired talent more than ever before.
At the end of the day, we’re all living in a hospitable world. We might not fully realise it, but almost every outward facing interaction we experience with it puts us in the role of consumers undergoing carefully curated experiences, tailor-made by brands and corporations. This new shift in society has led to a more open, engaging and communicative world, with an exchange of culture and a global conversation that’s warmer and more open than ever before. To keep moving forward to an even brighter picture, our industries need talent – and plenty of it. Today’s landscape provides an absolute dearth of professional opportunities, and can take those willing to pursue them to unexpected and exciting new heights. The opportunities are out there – and they possess incredible potential for today’s youth. Our industries thrive on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship – things that today’s generation have an exceptional hold over already. Hospitality provides a platform for those who are willing to think outside the box, enjoy the human experience and discover new horizons – and, most importantly, shape tomorrow into a better world for everybody.