Yesterday, three hospitality professionals spoke in my Human Resource Management and Hotel Operations classes. They are Jason Bretz, GM of Hilton Garden Inn Saratoga Spring (White Lodging), Ben Eberhardt, a hotel entrepreneur in Upstate NY (i.e. The Sherwood Inn), and Gil Reyes, Hotel Manager of Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center. While they have distinguished career paths and came from different background, they agreed on some main concepts. For example:
- Hospitality industry is not for everyone. It takes leadership, hard work, good work ethic, flexibility, and often long hours to succeed.
- Relevant work experience is critical to a hospitality career. College students are advised to gain as much industry experience as possible before they enter the work force.
- Hotel design trends may have pushed everyone in the market to make renovations.
- F&B operations are very important in hotel operations. Hilton Garden Inn, for instance, is pushing the Great American Grill concept, serving breakfast and dinner (if not lunch yet).
- Social media is considered as a “must-have” marketing tool for business. However, it takes time to manage a hotel’s social media presence, and the ROI (return on investment) remains uncertain. In addition, it does not seem that an effective social media strategy has been developed.
References:
The picture was downloaded from Social Capital Management.
I agree with the specific points that are pointed out in this blog. It is very important for college students to gain as much experience as possible before starting actual working in the industry. Good Grades are not the only factor hotels look at. Hotels want to see that you have experiences and you are familiar with the job and work. I also agree that social media is important for businesses. I remember one of the previous blogs mentioned that social media helped spread news and other events throughout the world. I believe that social media can help spread a good reputation of a hotel or business and at the same time advertise the business. I remember a specific point one of the guest speaker said was that you need to have the passion in order to work in the hospitality industry. If you don’t have the passion for it or you don’t look forward to working every morning, then this field is not the place you should be working at.
ReplyDeleteAlexa Sapper:
ReplyDeleteI agree that getting a job in the hospitality industry is definitely not for everyone. Leadership is a large role that must take place in the industry, along with hard work. In the Human Resources class, Jason Brentz came to speak from the Hilton Garden Inn Saratoga Spring. He spoke a lot about the entire company, but also told the class a lot specifically about White Lodging. The most important aspect that stuck out to me that Jason talked about was the experience. Jason said that it the company looked a lot at experience in order to get hired and to work for the company. Social media plays a large role in any industry, let alone hospitality. Social media gets the word out about different companies and if people enjoyed their experience there.