5 Ways to Know if a Leisure and Tourism Management MBA is Right For You

This article is sponsored by European University’s MBA - Leisure & Tourism Management program. Learn more.

While many MBA students pursue careers in banking or finance, growing numbers are finding work where most people play. “Tourism has experienced continued growth and deepening diversification to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world,” reports the United Nations World Tourism Organization. “Today, the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, food products or automobiles.”

Last year, international tourism generated some US$1.4 trillion worldwide. Despite the lingering effects of the global recession, international tourist arrivals grew in 2013 by some 5%. From resorts to hotels, to cruise lines, hospitality management jobs are also increasing. In fact, one in eleven jobs is connected to tourism.

Hospitality management jobs can be both demanding and rewarding. When your customers are people who’ve saved all year to spend one week where you work, it takes a special person to make sure their needs are met.

Schools have moved to cater for the needs of this strident industry. European University, with four main campuses in Barcelona, Munich, Geneva and Montreux, is one such example, offering one and two-year programs (either full or part-time) leading to an MBA - Leisure & Tourism Management. Course content explores the theories, practices and business models in tourism management in order to prepare students for successful careers in the industry. Graduates of the program have gone on to work at executive level in numerous Fortune 500 corporations including the Marriott Hotel Group, W Hotels, the Disney Corporation and Swiss International Airlines.

Of course, the quality of your education can only count for so much in determining one’s success in any industry. Here are five checkboxes to help you determine if this specialized degree is right for you:

1. You are devoted to providing good customer service

The leisure and tourism industry is about making people happy. Succeed and your customers will return year after year. They’ll tell their friends and family, creating the best advertisement for your company. Failure to offer good customer service can mean more than just a few bad online reviews. Losing customers can mean the death of your business – many a hotel or resort has gone bankrupt because of poor service. A hospitality management job means not just meeting your client’s needs but also anticipating them. It takes a certain type of giving, humble personality to achieve this. You need to be honest with yourself as to whether or not you fit the bill.

2. You want to work overseas

In the global workplace, many top level positions require travel. Still, there are few sectors that require as much relocation as the leisure and tourism industry. Do you want to work overseas? Does regular relocation fit with your lifestyle or your idealized career? Do you have family or relationship considerations precluding work overseas? Although numerous executive positions don’t require travel, top management jobs for hotels and resorts often do. Perhaps attending a business school as an international student can help you determine if living and working in a foreign environment is something you’ll enjoy.

3. You are a people person

Numerous MBA specialties offer opportunities for ‘back office’ personalities, but leisure and tourism management is not one of them. Certainly, there are positions that don’t require regular interaction with the public, but to reach the upper echelons of the industry you will be expected to be comfortable with people. An outgoing people person has a better chance of success in a hospitality management job than a wallflower. Plus, even the top jobs at major hotels and resorts require managers to deal directly with clients. Indeed, many fellow managers you’ll encounter began their careers in these jobs. In order to learn your industry, you may be asked to work numerous shifts in entry-level jobs. Being a people person will make the job much easier.

4. You enjoy staying at hotels and resorts

Many people who enter the industry are motivated by their own tourism experiences. A resort that didn’t meet your needs or a hotel that exceeded them can be great motivators. Still, the difference between a one-week visit and year-long living is radical. Certainly there are numerous hospitality management jobs that don’t require onsite living, but this is definitely something to consider beforehand. Many management or other executive level roles can only be reached from positions that require living on the property. This can be cost effective, but when your home is your work, it can be hard to leave it behind. The impersonal, temporal nature of resort or hotel living may also be a drawback for some who prefer settled conditions.

5. You are flexible

The leisure and tourism industry demands flexibility. Hotels, resorts, cruise ships and casinos operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are open weekends and holidays – in fact that is their busiest time. Working in leisure and tourism necessitates schedule flexibility. If you aspire to regular hours, tourism management is probably not the ideal career for you.

This article is sponsored by European University’s MBA - Leisure & Tourism Management program.